The Color of Chinese Bellflowers
by MilkyMilky
Summary: A geisha must be graceful, beautiful, and most of all talented. Ritsuka’s skill in all of these areas enchants a tall, ash blonde stranger. How can Ritsuka cope when Soubi buys him for his own purposes?
1. Ripples on the water

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter one: Ripples on the water _

Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. I've tried my best to keep everyone in character.

* * *

Burning rays of setting sunlight shined into Ristuka's face. The cloth of his cotton kimono clung to his skin, bonded to it with a sheen of sweat that glazed his skin. Pushing a few obstinate locks of hair out of his face, he hugged his knees. He was squatting on the side of the street, watching a butterfly drink from a flower. Behind him the front door of his okiya sat pushed open, he had a bad habit of not closing doors. The butterfly had all the hot colorings of summer, and its wings flitted gently when one of Ristuka's fingers reached out to poke them.

"What are you doing out here butterfly? It's too hot for you." Ristuka smiled naively, but he was right. It was August of 1922. Even so, it was way too late in summer to be seeing butterflies. Ignoring his question, the butterfly floated off of the flower and onto his slender finger. Ristuka let out a childish laugh that scared it away, and it flew off to another flower bed.

"Ritsuka! What are you doing out here?" the door shook slightly, and Mieko stepped into the doorway. "You need to be dressed. Look at you! Squatting in the street and getting sweaty, go inside." Mieko was young, but still she owned the okiya Ritsuka was in. Her hair still retained all of its obsidian coloring. She was constantly picked at for her short stature, but everyone respected her none the less.

"Hai, Mieko-sama!" Ritsuka dragged his feet inside the door, not bothering to stop and take his shoes off because he hadn't worn any out in the first place. Mieko called after him, "get a maid to scrub your feet!" he frowned. "Haaaai."

Ristuka stood with his arms outstretched, looking like a thin willow tree. A maid pulled the sleeves of a kimono over his first two layers of dress, smoothing out the fabric were it puckered. He observed himself in the mirror, seeing nothing but a dress up doll. The life of a geisha was the one he had been born into. But it was in his nature, the need to be more independent. Because of this, being dressed by other people made him feel pathetic. It was almost like they thought he couldn't dress himself, or that he was so delicate he would break if he tried. Still it was a tradition that could not be broken, so for the sake of keeping it going he accepted it. That and, he knew no matter what he said, Mieko and no one else for that matter would allow him to dress himself.

Only one short visit had been scheduled for him tonight. Unfortunately, that didn't say much for his popularity amongst the many patrons of Gion. Ristuka had no exposure, no promotion. Refusal to perform in plays and never having served any rich men in the places he visited insured that he wasn't well known. Tonight's visit was to a small teahouse nestled in on the same street as his okiya was. Mieko had never been impressed with him, not even since he became a full fledged geisha. Somehow she saw it as a fitting punishment that he wear the cheaper selection of kimono that was there available there in the okiya. Ristuka thought maybe, if she would let him wear the kimono usually reserved for Yamato he could be pretty enough to get more clients. Never the less, it was still a beautiful kimono. It was a deep scarlet red with patterns of summertime flowers snaking a path up and around his legs.

Small and petite socked feet snuck their way into wooden geta. Ritsuka shuffled his way to stand in front of the doorway. A maid sparked a flint over his shoulders, then slid open the door for him.

Mieko stood to the side with her arms folded. "Maybe you could offer to dance some while you're there, and attract more clients. Make sure you do well tonight, Ritsuka." There was a grave tone to her warning.

Ritsuka could have recorded this word, since it was the one he seemed to reply with the most. "Hai."

Stepping out onto the street, he carefully turned and started walking. Keep your back straight, your head high, and walk gracefully. These were points Mieko always made to him, and he tried to do his best. He didn't expect much from other people, other than requests and the occasional compliment on his ensemble. In his life he hadn't received much else anyway_. Make sure you do well tonight, Ritsuka_. The words echoed back and forth in his mind, and he stepped up to the door of the teahouse.

"Pour us another cup Ristuka! The boys are thirsty!" A rough cloud of laughs erupted, as Ritsuka tried pouring a few cups of sake without spilling it or being bumped in to. This particular teahouse seemed to attract a lot of men who were more interested in getting drunk than doing the verbal tango with a geisha. Of course they would pause momentarily if one of them shown at least an inch of skin. Not as many would glance Ritsuka's way than when a geisha of a paler complexion showed their skin, since Ritsuka was tanned from his love of being outside in the courtyard or in the street. Occasionally he would be taunted for retaining his dark cat ears, which meant he also retained his virginity. It, for a reason unknown to him, made him slightly more popular than the others who had given up their ears. He liked his though, they made him look more interesting, and they set him apart from any of the other run-of-the-mill geisha.

The door to the room slid open, attracting everyone's attention. A tall man, with long ash blonde hair stepped in. He smiled softly, and the men all started laughing again. "Well look who's here, it's Soubi!"

Soubi turned his gaze to that man and nodded. "You seemed so surprised that I'm here."

He crossed the room, kneeling on the floor and sitting at the table next to the man.

"You're such a high roller I didn't think you'd show up in a tiny place like this!" The man looked at Ristuka, "hey you there! What are ya' waitin' for? Pour this man a drink!"

Ritsuka scrambled to a cup and the sake jug, lacking all the grace that was drilled into his head. He gently poured Soubi a cup of sake, smiling up at him childishly. "I apologize for my clumsiness, sir."

Soubi stared at him for a moment. His eyes pierced him so thoroughly that it made Ritsuka uncomfortable, causing him to squirm slightly. Finally he smiled, "It's quite alright, I think it's cute."

Ristuka nodded, "Arigatou." To him, it was just another compliment. The other men had all turned to each other, talking about things Ritsuka was too young to understand. Soubi took slow and small sips at his sake, watching everyone else but seemingly bored with whatever they were talking about. His eyes were nothing but widened slits on his face, but the odd eye color seemed to pierce everything, from their perch behind his thin glasses. The eyes scanned the room, resting on Ritsuka.

"What's your name?"

"Ritsuka, sir."

"Oh you don't have to address me as sir. My name is Soubi, please call me that."

Ritsuka squinted in suspicion, "As you wish," he paused like he was wondering if it was OK to continue, "Soubi."

When he heard his name, he gave a large smile just short of a grin. "It makes me happy when you call me by my name Ritsuka. Tell me, who is the owner of your okiya?"

"My owner's name is Mieko. The okiya is not too far from here, actually it's on the same street. But, why?"

"Simple curiosity. I wonder, is Mieko a nice woman to you?"

"_Nice?_" the word rolled off of his tongue almost like it was foreign. "Well, she feeds me and gives me a place to live."

"All the things she is obliged to do?"

An obligation. It haunted Ritsuka that all the people around him put up with him simply because they were obliged to. His discomfort shone on his face, and through the way the fiddled with his fingers that rested in his lap.

"Does it bother you, Ristuka?" He reached out and cupped the smaller ones rounded chin. "You don't know what it's like to be treated nicely, do you?" His words stung, and that reflected in Ritsuka's eyes. It seemed like an eternity, but Ritsuka did not answer. He couldn't find the words he wanted, and if he did he couldn't manage to get them out of this throat. Jerking away his face resumed all of its emotionless polite nature. "Another cup for you, Soubi?"

Simply he nodded, and pushed his cup forward.

Ritsuka didn't trust him, he was strange. On top of being strange, this man seemed to get too close for comfort. A patron never asked such intimate questions about how a geisha felt, or their personal life. Soubi hit too close to home for Ritsuka's comfort. Why would he want to know such things anyway? Mieko always told him, 'strange men shouldn't grow close to young ones like yourself who still have their catlike features.'

"Ristuka? I'm sure the table likes the sake too but perhaps you're giving him too much."

"Mm... wha?!" Ristuka snapped out of his deep thought and yanked back the sake jug. The other men were laughing at him. His face blushed a deep fiery red, almost matching his kimono. While his head was in the clouds he had overfilled Soubi's cup and poured a good amount on the table. "G-gomen nassai!" He bowed, and reached for the towel that sat in the floor behind him. Leaning across the table he began wiping it up, in large slow circles. Soubi's large, defined hand reached out and lay delicately on his.

"Such a beautiful boy shouldn't be dirtying his hands with a sake soaked rag. Please, let me do it."

"N-no, you shouldn't..."

"Nonsense!" Soubi's hand slid off of his and grabbed the rag from underneath of it. While he wiped, some of the other men noticed.

"Since when did Soubi care when someone spilled sake?" It was the same man that had talked to him before.

"Now, Ritsu I always like to make the lives of others more pleasant."

Ristuka hadn't looked at the man that apparently knew Soubi. Ritsu, his name was? He didn't notice before but he had almost the same color hair as Soubi. That same ashen blonde. It was cut shorter though, and his face seemed more sinister than Soubi's. Ritsuka froze in mid thought when Ristu's eyes locked with his. A one sided smile rose on the latter's lips, "besides, instead of a soaked rag there _are_ other things he could dirty his hands with." A deep, yet slightly feminine chuckle rumbled in his throat.

Ritsuka had only a slight clue of what he was talking about, and he didn't like it. Soubi's glare dug into Ritsu. The flash in his eyes was the only way you could tell he was angry. "I'm sure this boy doesn't know what you're talking about, so why don't you quit making perverse jokes?"

"Of course." Ristu closed his eyes and faced away from the two.

"I apologize for my acquaintance. He doesn't know how to be a gentleman, it seems." Soubi rested his elbows on the table, leaning forward slightly. He smiled.

Soubi, Soubi is so strange.

"It's OK, I think I understood his joke ..."

"It wasn't a joke, he was actually being rude. I'm sorry. You probably deserve to have nicer patrons than this rowdy bunch of stinking men."

Ristuka was taken aback. "Please, Soubi don't say such strange things. It makes me feel awkward."

"Awkward? It makes you feel awkward to be cared for?" Soubi stopped to laugh softly. "If you don't mind me saying so, young Ritsuka you are too cute."

Oddly, Ritsuka found himself blushing again. That was the second time tonight too. "I don't mind it, I guess."

Ritsuka poured another round of sake for the table full of gruff men. It wasn't normal for him to be the only entertainer in the room, usually there was at least one other. He usually left it up to that other entertainer to do the dancing or participate in polite conversation that really had no meaning. Although, maybe it was because he was at such an undesirable teahouse. The wood in it was all dusty, every surface. Accept that is the table they were all sitting at. Dust had no time to collect there, too many hands were beating on it and too many drinks were sliding around. The paper that completed the door and walls was yellowed slightly with age. Tatami mat covering the floor was musty from missing multiple new years and summertime cleanings. It seemed that no men of real importance came to drink or be entertained here, except for Soubi and his companion Ritsu. Ritsuka observed, that they were clearly the two best looking and well known men in the room. Maybe they were of some importance he wasn't aware of? That wouldn't be hard considering that the rich and famous of Gion weren't Ritsuka's concern. Any other geisha would call him crazy though, he was content with this life of obscurity even though Mieko was not.

A quick glance at the clock mounted to the wall told Ristuka it was almost ten o'clock at night. He stood up gracefully, maintaining his demure image." Gomen nassai, minna-san. I'm afraid I must retire from this teahouse for the night. Thank you very much for having me." Ritsuka bowed, and made his way out of the door and into the hallway. He heard the door re-open behind him, "Ritsuka." Turning, he saw Soubi standing just outside of the door. "You said your okiya is close by, owned by a woman named Mieko correct?" Ritsuka nodded. "Arigatou. Good night, Ritsuka." With those parting words he disappeared inside of the room.

That night, as Ritsuka lay snuggled into his futon he couldn't force that name out of his head.

* * *

Please review minna-san! Sorry for any inaccuracies! I'm doing this to the best of my knowledge, and soon I might have fan art up for this. Drawing Ristuka as a geisha would be too pretty to pass up.

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER TWO - August 31st, 2007  
Youji had gained about 6 feet on Natsuo, and ducked around a corner into a smaller walkway that was almost considered an alley. He grabbed Natsuo by the wrist when he flew by, stopping him. "Youji? Why did you stop me, I thought we were racing?"

"Racing gets boring when you're the only one who ever wins." Using the wrist in his grip for leverage, he pushed Natsuo against one of the walls. Their lips brushed together in an innocent, chaste kiss.


	2. Flit and flicker, sakura petal

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter two: Flit and flicker, Sakura petal_

Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. Thank you sooo much to everyone who reviewed! I'll post one chapter every two weeks, meaning the next one comes out September 14th. Please keep reading my story! Also, not all geisha in this story will have the traditional hair styles. (Such as Ristuka)  
1: Bachi - a weighted plectrum used to pluck the strings or a shamisen during play.  
2: Umeboshi - the pickled plum center of an onigiri  
3: Onigiri - rice ball

Okiya - the house that geisha live in (just incase you didn't know)

* * *

Strings of a shamisen sent a melodious song into the air. Small, nimble fingers gripped the bachi(1) strumming it across the tightly strung strings of the shamisen. They vibrated and rumbled with their sound, creating music. A young man sat behind a dancing geisha, playing the shamisen as the background music and also the effects for the dance the one in front of him was performing. The suspense rose, accompanied by the tempo of the simple instrument. The players oddly colored bluish green hair was pulled back tightly out of his face, tied into an intricate bun of overlapping locks adorned with kanzashi. Fringe hung over his forehead, gently reaching past his eyebrows. 

Delicately, the dancers hand rose to the air. His skin was naturally a pale ivory color, that had a healthy glow in the bright candle light. The hand softly held a fan, that was expertly painted with a beautiful image of sakura trees in full bloom. The tempo exploded, the dancers hands cascaded down like sakura petals blown in a storm. His left hand flew up and across his chest as he spun, causing the kanzashi in his hair to jingle and clink as he whirled. His hair was a dark maroon, almost russet color. It too was pulled into an intricate bun. Although, his hair was more waved and rebellious than his musicians causing a few strands to fall from the bun and gently rest around his face and neck, accompanied by a thick fringe.

Youji's voice floated into the music, his voice slightly deep with the beginnings of maturity. "The snow did not let up."

Natsuo's hands fluttered down and side to side, as he himself ran back and forth.

"The princess couldn't find her way home."

Natsuo spun, dramatically swooping the fans over his head looking to the side.

The rest of Youji's words told the story, that somehow had a moral embedded in it. Although this song and dance was too old for Youji or Natsuo to understand that moral, but they performed the dance anyway. It seemed to get them a lot of popularity with the older and more wealthy men of Gion. It seemed to Youji though that Natsuo's alabaster skin, buoyant slitted eyes and natural grace deserved the term princess undoubtedly.

Abruptly the music stopped, Natsuo bowed politely and tucked away his fans somewhere in his kimono. Their modest sized audience clapped with nods and smiles of approval. Both boys took their seats, making sure to tuck their kimono back when they sat on their knees as not to fold the fabric. "Thank you everyone for watching our dance. It gives us such joy to bring smiles to all of your faces." Youji announced politely, but under his calm and demure facade sat a sarcastic face. The kind that screamed, I-wish-I-didn't-have-to-use-manners-on-you-people. It wasn't in his nature to be so accommodating, such a thing was easier for Natsuo although he seemed to be more shy and since Youji was the more outspoken of the two he always ended up doing the greeting, the thanking, and whatnot. Their audience had been comprised of almost completely older men, who all respected that dance.

"No no, thank you two! You make such a great team, how long have you two been entertaining together?" One man at the end of the table asked them.

The two boys exchanged silently mischievous glances, and Youji answered. "Ever since we can remember."

"Well, you certainly compliment each other. Would you mind coming back tomorrow, and dancing for us again?"

Natsuo laughed lightly, "we would be more than happy to." He eyed the almost forgotten sake bottle. "I have an idea! Let's play a game."

"A game?" Youji questioned. He wasn't really surprised, they had always planned this sort of thing. The men they entertained always seemed to like it when they talked to each other.

"Haaaai! It's a," he held up the sake jug, "drinking game!"

"Eto... but Natsuo! Nagisa will scold us if we come home drunk..." Youji's cat ears flattened to his head in mock shame. This routine always struck up a chord..

"We just wont let Nagisa see us then, besides I'm sure these eligible men will keep responsible of us. You will, wont you?"

A resounding "yes!" erupted from the group.

Happiness bloomed on Natsuo's face. "Okay then! Here's how to play, you pour sake for the person to your left. Then, that person asks you a riddle. If you answer the riddle correctly, the riddler must drink all of the sake." A few of the eldest men of the group chuckled, mumbling things to themselves like "wiley kids."

"I go first!" Natsuo grabbed a cup from the stack at the center of the table and placed it in front of Youji, filling it with sake.

Youji took a big breath. "Okay. What is slightly red and always moist?"

Natsuo touched his right pointer to his mouth in thought. "Actually, it sounds like Youji taking a bath!" he giggled, and Youji blushed.

"Come on, guess honestly!"

"Okay then... let's see is it aaan, umeboshi(2)?"

"Aww man!" Youji thirstily sipped up the sake.

By the end of the night, everyone at the table was to some degree drunk. The clock neared eleven at night, and Natsuo using Youji's head as support stood up shakily. An alcohol induced blush had spread over his cheeks. "I'm sorry everyone but it's time for us to go home!" He giggled, as Youji used Natsuo's legs and torso to pull himself into a steady standing position. "Yeah everybody goodnight!" They waved, and walked clumsily out of the teahouse and into the street. Even at night the streets were dimly lit with nearby lanterns, with men and other geisha walking to the next destinations. That had been their third teahouse that night. Somehow their popularity rose only when they were together as a team, dancing and singing or just talking and drinking. Loud boyish laughter erupted from them both, "oi, Natsuo I'll race you back to the okiya!"

"You only think you can race me, you're drunk!"

"An' what are you? Hm? I know, your just scared of loosing!"

"I am not!"

"Oh yeah well then the first person to touch the front door of the okiya gets an extra onigiri(3) in their mid day meal tomorrow."

"You're on!"

They both laughed at each other as their wooden geta clacked down the streets, and around corners. Youji always was in the lead, but occasionally Natsuo would reach out and playfully pull the mint haired boy behind him to gain a foot on him. "Cheater, cheater!" they would call after each other. It was so late in the night but neither cared if they were bothering anyone. It's hardly like the district ever slept. Whenever they were together it didn't seem to matter to either of them. When they were apart they weren't themselves, like each were a piece in a two piece puzzle. They shared a room, simply because they had trouble sleeping without the other nearby. There wasn't really a time in either of their lives that they could remember being apart from each other. The other puzzle piece had always been there, since before they could have memories.

Youji had gained about 6 feet on Natsuo, and ducked around a corner into a smaller walkway that was almost considered an alley. He grabbed Natsuo by the wrist when he flew by, stopping him. "Youji? Why did you stop me, I thought we were racing?"

"Racing gets boring when you're the only one who ever wins." Using the wrist in his grip for leverage, he pushed Natsuo against one of the walls. Their lips brushed together in an innocent, chaste kiss.

"It that all you wanted to tell me?" Natsuo smiled softly, his arms wrapping around Youji's warm middle section.

"That, and that I love you." He embraced Natsuo, taking in the scent of maroon hair. It smelled like freshly fallen rain.

"You could have told me something I didn't already know." He looked up with a hint of mischief. "Any passerby would think we were two girls standing here, hugging in a dark side street." He laughed. Regardless of their dress and job positions, they both were well aware of their masculinity. It didn't seem strange to either of them, that they were both boys. "It's OK though," Youji said. "This feels natural. I'm sure I was born to be wrapped in you arms, you know?" Natsuo smiled warmly, and nodded.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Hello, Ristuka. Thank you very much for visiting my teahouse tonight." An elderly woman with grayed bowed before the boy. She owned the teahouse Ristuka was at tonight, about a 10 minute walk from his okiya. "It's a pleasure to be here." Bowing back, he turned and shuffled to the door. The elderly woman opened it for him with a smile. He glanced at everyone in the room, greeting them with a "Good evening everyone!" His eyes rested on a single familiar man. To his surprise it was Soubi. Soubi stood from the table and took his right hand. "What a coincidence that you've come to entertain me again." He escorted him to a seat beside him. "Soubi! What are you doing here?"

"I just happened to be visiting this teahouse tonight. I'm glad I ran into you though, Ristuka."

Unintentionally, Ristuka leaned back from him oh so slightly. "Well, if you're glad then I am."

"Something tells me you don't mean that."

This unnerved him. He didn't like to think that just an acquaintance to get to him so easily. Smirking, he decided to play Soubi's game. "Maybe I do. But then again what if I don't?"

"If you don't, then it might hurt my feelings."

"Oh I'm so terribly sorry..."

"And why are you so defensive, Ritsuka?"

His eyes widened slightly. "Defenses are a good thing to have. But why do you care, anyway?"

"You're too adorable for me not to care." Ritsuka gave him a curious stare. "I think Mieko is a woman who wants to push you to a greater level of success. She doesn't care about much else than that does she?" Hurt shone in Ritsuka's eyes, it was too strong for him to try and hide. "You just want someone to take interest in the things you like. Someone who will watch after your well being because they want to, not because they have to." Ritsuka quickly averted his eyes. How was this random stranger reading him like an open book?!

Soubi felt he'd done enough, so he pulled out a cigarette. "Do you have any matches?" Ritsuka frowned, but matches were among the things he needed to entertain. Pulling one out, he lit it with a swift flick of his wrist. He held it to Soubi's cigarette, and Soubi inhaled. "Thank you." He breathed out the smoke, it made Ritsuka cough. He hated the aroma of it. Soubi seemed to take notice of this, so he held it further away. "You know Ritsuka, just because you are what you are doesn't mean you deserve to be treated like a burden. Not only are you adorable, but your too beautiful to be treated that way."

Ristuka observed Soubi's face in the oddly low candle light of the room. Many teahouses these days kept themselves lit brightly with electricity, but more traditional places like this opted for candle light instead. "Candle light does wonders for your face Ristuka." Reaching out he gently lifted the smaller ones chin. "It reflects off of the shape of your face perfectly. It makes you even cuter." Tonight, Ritsuka couldn't find the power in himself to pull away. Soubi had been right, all he wanted was a person that cared for him. _Him._ Instead of his career, his looks, his income. To Ritsuka's relief Soubi was the one to let go. "Do you have a favorite color, Ritsuka?

"Favorite ... color? Uhm I guess if I had to choose... purple or blue."

Soubi chuckled, "those are both colors that suit you very well. What other things do you like?"

Ritsuka's ears perked up, "Plenty of things! I like watching the Cherry Blossom trees bloom in the springtime."

"Oh, really? They were very beautiful this year. Probably the healthiest blooms I've seen in a good 5 years."

He nodded. "They were! I got to watch the blossoms fall with Yamato. She even let me have a little sake..."

"It sounds like you had a lot of fun. Who is Yamato?"

"You probably have seen her before. She is the most popular geisha at my okiya. She's very nice to me." Unknown to Ristuka, his tail was twitching and waving.

"Like an older sister?"

"I guess you could say so. But I don't really know what having an older sister is like. She is the one that knows me the best at the okiya though."

"I'm glad you have someone like that for you to talk to. Does it make you happy talking to me?"

"I think so..." he hadn't noticed how Soubi pried open his own safety shell. "You're a strange man though, Mr. Soubi."

"My name is Agatsuma Soubi, and please don't call me mister." He laughed. "I'm only twenty."

Obediently, Ritsuka nodded. Soubi pushed forward a sake cup, and with all the grace of a geisha Ritsuka poured him some.

* * *

Thanks for reading you guys, and don't forget to review! 

PREVIEW OF CHAPTER 3 - September 14th, 2007  
_"Brat, if you don't shut up I'll just kill him when I'm done." His strong leg reached out and kicked Natsuo in the chest, throwing him back against the ground. The stranger reached down grabbing an empty bottle of glass, and chucked it at Natsuo causing it to break over his right eye. The class had cut it, and Natsuo was screaming in agony._


	3. The Power of Currency

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter three: The power of currency_

Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. I've tried my best to keep everyone in character. And everyone's hair is the same as in the anime/manga.  
WARNING: This chapter contains touchy material, so reader discretion is heavily advised.

* * *

Ritsuka sat on his knees. Warm water droplets tumbled down his bare tan skin. His eyes watched the water pour from the spicket, down into the wooden bucket but he did not see it. Actually, he wasn't even registering his vision in his mind. Ritsuka had retreated deep inside of his head. Confusion held a tight grip on his brain. So, he'd had friends before hadn't he? Yamato was his friend, at least he thought so. He didn't like to think that Yamato could actually be talking to him to drill the same elegant tendencies in his brain that Mieko did. But why would Yamato waste her time like that? Yamato has a beautiful girl, sixteen years of age with an already promising career as a popular geisha. She was all the things he could not be. Outgoing, talkative. She could stand all the men and their subtle need for her. She knew just how to use her words in a witty dance to keep up a conversation, or to tell jokes and stories that made people laugh. Ritsuka couldn't stand that. He couldn't stand the false facade he needed to present to a room full of people just to keep up their interest in him. 

Parties were fun, they were even nice. Only on occasion though. He never understood how these wealthy men with homes, lives, wives and children could stand going out every night drinking and chatting with geisha who they knew would never get close to them even if they wanted to. Yamato always told him, "These men come to escape from their daily lives. Maybe his wife is no longer attractive and his children have all moved away from home. A geisha can make him feel like he has renewed the spark of youth in him. A spark commonly put out by working day after day. Responsibility takes a lot out of men, and that is what we are here for. To put the life back into them." Ritsuka always knew since he was very young, that this was the kind of life perfectly suited for Yamato. Maybe one day he when he was older he would understand why all of that was important.

Soubi. Agatsuma Soubi ... He repeated the name in his head. If all these men knew they could never get close to a geisha then why was Soubi so persistent? And what about him did Soubi find so adorable? These questions had been bombarding his head lately. Every time he went to serve at a teahouse his heart thumped wildly when he would glance around the room, wondering if he was going to be entertaining Soubi that night. In a strange way his heart always sank when the older man wasn't there. He wasn't sure why. It ignited something inside of him, whenever Soubi asked him questions. Even simple things like, 'what is your favorite color?' or 'your favorite food?' Simple trivial things like that felt like it indulged his brain. Never before had he gotten to talk about himself to someone who was actually interested. Yamato never asked him those things.

Snapping out of it, Ritsuka gripped the overflowing bucket and dumped it onto his head washing away the soap that begun to sting at his eyes. He sat it back down under the spicket, and began scrubbing himself with soap. He hadn't noticed that over the past year his body matured greatly. The curve of his jaw seemed slightly more jagged, his chest a tiny bit broader. The reason he didn't know, but it didn't necessarily matter to him. As long as he was clean, and able to entertain is all that mattered if he wanted a roof over his head. Ritsuka took a deep breath, and poured the bucket of water over his body.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Natsuo's hair hung down, freely over his shoulders. He sat with his back against a wall, facing Youji. In the morning sunlight that cascaded through the window, Youji could swear Natsuo looked like an angel. "Hey, Natsuo why do you think we are how we are?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Why are we so inseparable? I wonder ... when that all started?"

Natsuo's eyes turned downcast to the floor. "Probably very early on. The first clear memory I have of you, I think we were about four years old then ... it was when Nagisa took us in. Do you remember that night?"

"The memory crystal clear, like it happened yesterday! Besides, how could I forget?" As he spoke the words, his voice lowered. It wasn't a pleasant memory for either of them.

_"Youji? It's cold." A very young Natsuo pouted, his hair only around chin length then. His big bright eyes looked into Youji's. "I know, and I'm hungry..." The redhead nodded, "I'm hungry too." As soon as he finished speaking tears began to well in his eyes. They both sat, huddled together for warmth in an alleyway. The snow fell from the sky, blown on the wind. Arms wrapped around each other they shivered. Natsuo began whimpering. "No, no! If you cry I'm gonna cry too!" Youji watched as his counterpart began sucking in breaths, and finally began to sob. The mint haired child had tears brimming over his eyes, some gently escaped and slid down his cheeks. The cold and bitter air almost froze the salty trails to his face. A black man approached them, "what's wrong little ones?" Youji looked up, compared to him the man was very tall. "We're hungry, and it's cold." He held back the burning tears threatening to spill. _

_"Come with me then." He held out his hand, which seemed bony and witch-like. Youji's naivete slowly let go of Natsuo and he reached up to take the larger man's hand. Before he could blink the man's hands snapped out grabbing Youji's wrists, yanking him up to meet his eyes as if he were a doll. Youji's face frozen in fear, the tall man roughly sat him on the top of a trashcan. "Hey! What are you doing to Youji? Stoppit!" Natsuo sucked in his tears while his tiny fists beat against the man's legs._

_"Brat, if you don't shut up I'll just kill him when I'm done." His strong leg reached out and kicked Natsuo in the chest, throwing him back against the ground. The stranger reached down grabbing a small empty glass bottle, and chucked it at Natsuo causing it to break over his right eye. The class had cut it, and Natsuo was screaming in agony. The man turned his attention back to Youji who now was sobbing, hiccupping occasionally from crying so hard. Paying no attention, the man grabbed the bottom hem of Youji's tattered shirt ripping it over his head and tossing it to the side. His hands shaky with anticipation began groping Youji in a place he was always told was sacred. A shrill voice rang in the night._

_"Hey! What are you doing to that kid?!" A woman with wild pigtails screamed at him. The man fumbled off of Youji and he sped off running into the night. "Come back here pervert!" She attempted to run after him but stopped, turning her attention to the side. Youji was still shirtless on top of the trashcan. Thankfully his pants were still intact. He was crying so hard she had trouble getting to him, if she tried gently touching his shoulder to calm him down he only jerked back in fear. She picked up Natsuo who was struggling and screaming._

_"I need to get you help quick! At least the both of you are lucky enough to still have your ears." While rushing the boys to a nearby doctor she observed them both noting that for a young age they had potential. "You're both staying with me, once you've healed."_

"It was that night that Nagisa saved the both of us." Natsuo said, he smiled weakly trying to keep the mood light. Once Youji was down it was pretty hard to get him back to normal again.

"It's a good thing she did, I might not have been able to help you. Losing vision in one eye, well loosing it really renders one helpless..." His eyes wandered to the white eye patch Natsuo always had to wear.

"I'm not helpless now though. And I'm glad Nagisa came along." Natsuo closed the few feet of space between them by crawling on his hands and knees. He reached up feeling one of Youji's soft ears. "Or else, these beautiful ears wouldn't be mine for the taking." That ever present hint of mischief flickered more than ever in eyes.

That was one of the rare things that made Youji blush. If it had been anyone but Natsuo making a comment about taking his ears he would have gotten angry, but this was different. He laughed softly. "I wouldn't give them to anyone else." Natsuo's lips softly pressed against the one cat ear, and his nose nuzzled the soft fur. He let out a noise that sounded slightly like a purr. "Thank you."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Wow! That's amazing, it's so pretty! Don't you think so too, Ritsuka?" Yuiko smiled a too bright smile, in her hand she held up a brightly colored flower.

Ritsuka had just met Yuiko, earlier that day. Now they were sitting on the side of a busy street. She was another strange person, like Soubi. She even had an odd hair color, an almost pink orange. Personality wise she was bubbly and giggly, to a point that baffled him. No matter what she constantly smiled. And again like Soubi, she asked him weird questions. It seemed like she was easily entertained. By the way she was dressed, he guessed she was a maid.

He nodded. "It's very pretty. But did you have to pluck it out of the ground? You took it away from it's home!"

Surprisingly her smile faded and she stared at the flower in sudden terror. "Oh no! I killed it." She frowned.

"Don't worry, there are plenty of other pretty flowers you haven't picked out of the ground. Ano, Yuiko? Do you belong to any okiya?"

"Yes, I do actually. But," she smiled sadly, "I'm only a maid. I wasn't skilled enough to handle things like shamisen playing or dancing. I'm too much of a klutz!"

Ritsuka gave her a reassuring face, "don't worry. I barely made it into being a geisha. I'm not bad at those things and I'm not clumsy, they're just things I don't really enjoy doing."

Yuiko gasped. "You're a real geisha?! That's so amazing, amazing!" Like a child, she began clapping.

Embarrassed, Ritsuka stopped her clapping by covering her hands with his. "Please, it's nothing big. And people are staring." Sure enough her excited banter had gained a few sideways glances.

"I'm sorry. But what is it like, to be one? It must feel so glamorous wearing makeup and those pretty hair ornaments. And especially the kimono! I bet you're even more pretty than the flower I killed when you're all dressed up."

Ritsuka laughed, he was dressed rather plainly in a cotton kimono and his hair down. "I wouldn't say that, even the butterflies are prettier than me."

"The butterflies?"

"Yeah. The only things pretty enough to drink from flowers. I saw one a few weeks ago."

Yuiko's brow knotted in confusion. "But it's almost fall, you saw a butterfly that late in the summer?"

"I was surprised too, but I did. He was the color of fire."

"He must have been amazing to see!"

Ritsuka nodded, "he really was."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Greetings, Mieko." Soubi smiled at the middle aged woman through the front door.

"A-Agatsuma! What is a rich man like you doing here at my little okiya? If it's a request for Yamato, she's booked for the next few days." Suddenly she tried to straighten her kimono and patted at her hair, trying to look presentable.

He shook his head. "No, I'm not here requesting anything. And not anything about Yamato."

She tilted her head slightly in confusion, "oh? What are you here for then?"

Without invitation Soubi stepped in, closing the door. "More like an offer."

"What kind of offer?" Mieko was skilled in business language.

"I want to buy one of your geisha."

She was flabbergasted. Selling off your geisha wasn't a normal thing to do. "You want to buy one?! They aren't for sale!"

"Not even Ritsuka?"

She paused. It was clear, keeping Ritsuka was more trouble than what it was worth. "I don't think you have enough money."

"My dear," he learned forward to whisper in her ear, "I have far more than you can imagine."

Mieko's head battled with the completely unorthodox thought of up and selling one of her geisha, versus the spring of money that Soubi was offering her for troublesome Ritsuka. "Just why would a wealthy man like you want with him anyway? He isn't popular, he doesn't bring in any money or patrons. Practically a failure as a geisha."

"Even more reason to get him off of you're hands correct? And if you must know I've started my own okiya." He smiled. "I already have one maid, and now I need a few geisha."

Mieko's mind exploded. "You? Opened an okiya?!"

"Is that wrong?" He made a mock sad face, when Mieko had every right to be shocked. Men didn't own okiya.

Soubi dug into his pocket and handed her a small sum of yen bills. "This money is unrelated to Ritsuka. It's just something to make you think. I'll stop by again sometime, to get your answer." Opening the front door, he smiled, "Have a good day, Miss Mieko." And with that he closed the door behind him.

* * *

So now you know Natsuo and Youji's intensely disturbing past, and Soubi's completely insane way of breaking tradition. Please review nicely minna!

PREVIEW OF CHAPTER FOUR - September 28th, 2007  
Ritsuka's eyes fluttered open, and he looked around slowly taking in his surroundings. Rememberance gripped him though and he remembered. Even through his makeup his blush was still visible. That's right, he had fallen asleep next to Soubi.


	4. The Sweetest Taste

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter four: The sweetest taste _

Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. I've tried my best to keep everyone in character. There's a lot of Youji/Natsuo in this fic but the main couple is definitely Soubi/Ritsuka. The fifth chapter will be released on October 12th (and my b-day is October 2nd so send me goodies :3)  
WARNING: This chapter contains almost-smut.  
1 Rickshaw - A two wheeled cart pulled by a human that seats one to two passengers.

* * *

"Mmpf." It was late. The kind of time that Youji would normally be sleeping. Tonight though, the chorus of the crickets outside of his window were too loud. The light from the lamps in the street was too bright. No matter how long he lay in his futon with his eyes closed, sleep refused to come. Resting his hands behind the weight of his head he stared out of the open window to the moon above. It was a waxing crescent tonight, reminding Youji of someone smiling. He fiddled with the soft fabric of his under kimono between his right pointer finger and thumb. His thoughts wandered freely. _How long is it going to take me to fall asleep?_ The thought impatiently. He tried not to move, hoping that the stillness could help him find sleep better. Youji hated sleepless nights. For what he thought was hours his eyes traced patterns on the ceiling. 

Rolling to his side, he caught side of Natsuo's maturing face in the moonlight. Youji gasped silently. Natsuo, unlike him, was sleeping soundly. The pale moonlight lit up alabaster highlights and dark grey shadows on the planes of his face. When he slept, his hair was even more rebellious. Wild curly locks framed his face, bent and twisted with kinks caused by sleeping. In his sleep, his left ear twitched a few times and a smile spread over his face. _At least he can sleep. And on top of that, it looks like he's having a nice dream. I wonder what it's about?_ The expression on Natsuo's face changed slightly, to one that looked almost like pain. Youji couldn't tell what it was. The sleeping one's effeminate rose colored lips opened absent mindedly. "Youji..." Youji's heartbeat sped. His name had fallen out of Natsuo's mouth mixed with a sigh. A devilish smile flashed across his face_. He's dreaming about me then. And the real thing has to be better than a dream right?_

Propping himself up on his right elbow he struck a match, lighting a candle nearby so he could see better. He was surprised, Natsuo's usually still and polite sleeping position was instead curled up with his hands holding onto the blanket. He slid out of his futon and sat on his knees next to Natsuo's, debating in his head on whether or not to wake him. Unsurely his hand reached out and grabbed Natsuo's blanket. Gently he pulled it back, just enough for him to wriggle inside and lay in the free space of Natsuo's futon. Natsuo stirred, his face squeezing into a frown but he didn't wake up. Youji stilled, after a few minutes it seemed his maroon haired counterpart had resumed his dream as he now wore a much more pleasant face. Again the name tumbled off of his lips, "Youji." He wasn't sure what dream Youji was doing to Natsuo, but he himself snuck his arms around to encircle around the others warm waist.

Quietly he whispered, "Wake up, Natsuooo." He laughed when Natsuo shifted slightly and then it froze.

"Y-Youji?"

"You were calling my name in your sleep, it was so cute, and I thought the real deal would be nicer." Placing feather light kisses on the others throat, Natsuo's blush stung as the rosy color dusted across his cheekbones. He sighed deeply, taking gently care to run his thin fingers through the silky aquamarine locks of the cat boy devouring his throat. "It is nice ... especially when I wake up to something like this."

As an example, Youji's teeth nibbled at the soft skin beneath Natsuo's right ear. His tongue reached out, lapping along the small patch of skin that tasted faintly of salt. He blew his warm breath on it, then took it into his mouth again sucking gently. Natsuo's breath hitched in his throat, unable to get it out. Youji chuckled from pride, partially due to the hicky he had just made "and nice is fine. But it could be _great_." As he spoke the words, he rolled over top of Natsuo straddling his hips. Their hearts beat wildly at the same pace, as if they were in sync with each other. Elbows pinned to the futon on either side of Natsuo's head ensured that he couldn't escape anywhere.

"What are you doi-"

"Shh." Youji hushed him by resting a finger over his moistened lips. Natsuo's large eyes stared up at him with just a hint of worry, "calm down," he reassured him, "It's not like I'm wanting to defile you."

That made Natsuo giggle, the look of worry replaced with abundant joy. "I trust you." They sometimes had times like this, where they felt so close they wanted to take in each others bodies, the feel, the taste, the scent. With careful consideration though, they never went that far. Loosing their ears could damage their career terribly. Youji's delicate fingers caressed Natsuo's long neck, sliding downward to play on the dips of his collar bones. Receiving a smile, Youji knew it was permission to feel further. His open hands pushed their way to open up the kimono that was only loosely tied to Natsuo's slender frame. The top half fell open, and Youji's palms traced over every inch of the skin of Natsuo's chest or stomach. Lazily his fingers traced designs trailing downward underneath of Natsuo's belly button. Involuntarily his back arched, underneath of his belly button was a weak spot for him. Youji took the opportunity and slid his arms behind Natsuo's back in an embrace. Natsuo giggled, wrapping his arms around Youji's neck. Their lips closed in on each other, taking in the sweet taste. The movement of their lips made the both of them shiver.

They hadn't noticed, but the door to their bedroom was slightly ajar. Suddenly it snapped open with a loud _clack!_

Both of their hearts exploded in a fury of heartbeats, their lips separated and their widened eyes stared at the dark figure standing in the doorway. They stared into the face of a furious Nagisa.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"This has got to be more than just a coincidence." Ritsuka had just finished at the only teahouse he had scheduled for the night. Now, as he opened the door trying to leave he stared into the smiling face of Soubi.

That face was molded into a way-too-angelic grin. "Oh my! Here I was just on my way to this teahouse for a drink and chat and who do I run into but the adorable Ritsuka?"

The cat boy was thoroughly unconvinced. "You know if I didn't know better I'd say you were following me around."

"Nonsense. I don't waste my precious time stalking geisha."

A remark like that wasn't one Ritsuka had expected, and strangely enough it hurt him.

"But since I've already run into you we should go somewhere. That seems like much more fun than sitting in a room full of drunks." He finished his sentence with a smile.

Immediately Ritsuka's ears perked up, and his tail waved back and forth creating winding shapes. "If you really want to."

Soubi nodded, "Ok then."

Ritsuka led the way, bidding goodbye to the teahouse owner and stepped out onto the street. The sky was darkened into an ink blotted night, with starbursts of spotlights shining through. He wasn't quite sure why he's gone along with Soubi's sudden plan, even though he was positive Mieko would scold him when he came home late. But it was a new flicker of desire in his chest, he _wanted _to be with Soubi. Before it was unnerving to be around someone who could dip into his soul, as if he were a bucket of water and Soubi were a ladle. Even so, he liked the feeling of being around Soubi. So this should be fun. "What should we do, Soubi?"

Adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose, his eyes scanned the lantern lit street. "Do you like gardens?"

He nodded, "I love them!" his mind traveled back to his first meeting with Yuiko, over a flower on the side of the street. Realizing how informal he was being, he did his best to take on the polite tone of a geisha. "Might there be any public gardens open at this time of night?"

"Not a public one but mine is always open for you Ritsuka."

That polite tone shattered into a thousand pieces and his boyish excitement took over. "You have a garden in a crowded place like this?"

"Well I don't live inside the district of Gion, but just outside of it. There's more room to have gardens where I live." He smiled, but something underneath of it made Ritsuka think he was being sarcastic.

"I don't believe you."

The smile remained, "come with me then. I'll have you believing soon."

Soubi placed a gentle hand to hover over Ritsuka's small back. They walked along the length of the building, when Soubi directed Ritsuka around the side of it. It made Ritsuka a little nervous, which Soubi had sensed. His whisper came out as a soft coo, "Don't worry, I'm not taking you back here to hurt you." Within the next second that made itself apparent, and Ritsuka's young eyes bulged with disbelief. "You have you're own personal-" "Rickshaw(1) and driver? Not really. I just pay this man extra to take me around at night and wait for me until I'm done visiting the teahouses." He nodded to the man leaning against the wall. "Is it ok for me to ride with you like this Soubi?" He looked at Soubi who had already stepped in and sat down. "You're perfectly safe with me Ritsuka," extending his hand out to help Ritsuka up he continued. "As long as you're with me, I promise no harm will ever come to you." Ritsuka nodded, and in awe with no words to say he stepped up into the rickshaw. Soubi gave a signal to the man, who was basically his personal driver, and they rode off into the night.

Ritsuka's head turned upwards to the sky, he watched as the soft twinkling of the stars passed him by. Or was he passing him by? He couldn't tell. It was a temperate night, not too hot like summer and not yet cold enough to feel like winter. Things like this is what made him appreciate fall. An overwhelmingly calm feeling washed against the shores in his chest, and the soothing breeze lulled him into a peaceful trance. His hands rested on top of each other in his lap. Out of pure relaxation, he let his eyelids close slowly. Unknown to him, Soubi's eyes studied him. Taking in each curve of bone and flesh, studying the way that some of his dark hairs weren't long enough to reach up into his intricate bun. Noticing how cute Ritsuka was when he was so at peace he actually fell asleep there, sitting next to him.

"We've arrived at your house, Mr. Soubi."

"Thank you. Would you mind staying here a little while? To drive Ritsuka home later." As if he didn't need an answer he handed the man a yen bill. "Yes sir!"

Soubi leaned into Ritsuka's ear and whispered, "Wake up, are you too tired to visit my garden?"

Ritsuka's eyes fluttered open, and he looked around slowly taking in his surroundings. Remembrance gripped him though and he remembered. Even through his makeup his blush was still visible. "Oh no I'm not tired. Just became a little to relaxed back there, I guess. I really want to see this garden of yours." Taking care not to catch his kimono on anything, he gently stepped down out of the rickshaw with Soubi following. "So where is it, where?" Ritsuka tried hiding his excitement, but with the wild waving of his tail it was all too obvious. "Right past that gate." Soubi pointed a long finger to a gate about 20 feet away. Ritsuka raced forward, with surprising ease for wearing wooden geta. His loud gasp echoed off of the empty space around him, upon pushing through the gate and getting his first good glimpse at the garden.

It was everything a Japanese garden should be with winding pathways, bright red bridges that extended over a short network of waterways, and trees whose branches and shedding leaves drooped down to gently caress the ground or water beneath them. He felt as though he were a child seeing this for the first time, and he ran down one of the pathways clacking up the bridge to stand at the peak in it's arch. Soubi watched him, Ritsuka couldn't decide what the other was feeling though. He seemed to almost glow with a strange light, but Ritsuka knew it was emitted from the small smile he was wearing. Did him seeing Ritsuka happy make him happy himself? It was something else he didn't understand. Soon Soubi was standing next to him on the bridge, leaning forward on his elbows using the side of the bridge for support. In between his fingers he held a cigarette that he would take occasion puffs of. "So I'm guessing you like this garden then?" Ritsuka nodded like a happy child. "It's the biggest most beautiful garden I've ever seen." He noticed though, a medium sized building just beyond a border of trees. "What's that building?"

"It's where I live." Ritsuka remembered, this was _Soubi's_ garden. Not a public one, not someone else's but his. "Are you ... rich Soubi?"

Soubi laughed very softly. "I wouldn't call it that. Someone else has paid for all of this in order to try and please me."

For what had felt like the 10th time that night, Ritsuka was in awe. What did Soubi do to make someone so rich that interested in him? He chased the thought away from his mind. Deciding not to spoil the peace of the garden, he remained quiet. He smiled gently with his eyes closed, he was truly loving every minute of the attention he received. A large hand rested on top of his head. He didn't need to open his eyes to know it was Soubi. Simply he sighed, and let soak into his soul the serenity of that clear fall night.

* * *

Thanks to all who read! Ritsuka is so adorable when he's in awe!!!

PREVIEW OF CHAPTER FIVE - October 12, 2007  
"A man named Agatsuma Soubi."

He gained control of himself again, managing to swallow the saliva he had forgotten when all of his bodily functions seemed to have stopped still. "Soubi? Soubi bought me?"


	5. One who let sky fall

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter five: One who let sky fall _

Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. I've tried my best to keep everyone in character.

* * *

Early morning rays of sunlight trickled through Ritsuka's open window. They illuminated his face softly, causing his sleeping eyes to twitch. His own delicate hand raised to cover his eyes. It was too early in the morning for him, who usually slept in until noon. 

It had been about two weeks since his visit to the garden with Soubi. He hadn't seen him since then, every time he stepped into a room his eyes eagerly scanned the room in secret, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tall ash blonde man. Unfortunately he hadn't caught that glimpse he wished for so strongly since that night. He wanted it, he longed for it. Longed for the accepting gaze, the blissful aura of understanding that enveloped them both when they talked. It was even in his dreams, just he and Soubi talking. Rolling over he tried in vain to fall asleep again hoping to continue the dream.

He knew it wasn't real, but in the life he was leading dreaming was one of his few comforts. The loud and irritating growl of his stomach was too blaring for him to ignore. He slowly sat up, letting the blanket's fall off of his chest. It should have been about time for breakfast anyway, he judged by the position of the morning sun. Ritsuka lazily grabbed the sheets tossing them lazily off of his legs.

Standing up he regained his balance, his senses dull from sleep. It only took a few steps for him to reach the door, when dizziness took over and he had to close his eyes, resting his forehead against the doorframe gently. He stood there for a few moments before the smell of cooking food tickled his nose and the growling of his stomach he remembered how hungry he was.

He smiled, and slid open the door. Strangely enough his footsteps echoed down the wodden hallway with each thump of a step he took. Usually there were either maids or other geisha running around, and occasionally Mieko too. _They must already be eating breakfast._ He dismissed the thought. He bounded lightly down the steps and opened the door to the nearby kitchen. Normally he expected to see the maids scurrying about preparing and serving breakfast, or cleaning it. Instead he was staring into the eyes of Mieko, who sat in a chair.

"Good morning, Ritsuka."

"Good morning to you too Mieko."

She gestured towards the seat next to her, that was infront of a plate of food. Ritsuka nodded obediantly and sat, giving into the will of his stomach and eating without a care for manners. All the while Mieko watched on with empty eyes. This raised a few questions in him though, normally when he ate so messily Mieko would scold him and then give him a lesson on how to use his manners. Even though he was only halfway done with his plate his stomach bulged with the feeling of being full. He placed his chopsticks beside the plate and looked directly at Mieko. Something didn't feel right. "Is anything wrong Mieko?"

She cleared her throat. "As you know, this okiya is in need of money." He nodded, that was an understatement. "And recently I was offered a deal that would effectively take care of that problem for years to come." Ritsuka nodded absent mindedly again, not seeing how this connected to him.

"I've sold you."

Ritsuka's heart dropped. The food he had swallowed only minutes before sat uncomfortably in his stomach all of a sudden. His brain was flooded in a tidal wave of questions. Who had she sold him to? How much had the person paid her? Was it a nice person? Would he still be able to live his life as a geisha? It wasn't until now he realized how much he had taken that taboo life for granted.

Any other morning he would have continued on thinking it was a mundane world built upon lies and the upkeep of social facades, but right now it was the only string of normalcy he held onto. And he held onto it with a furious grip that was slipping. His heart began to beat again when Mieko smiled sadly, reaching out to grab a piece of rice Ritsuka had gotten stuck to his cheek while eating. It was her first and only familial gesture to him. But then again, Mieko wasn't there to be his mom. Or even be a maternal figure, she was there to whip him into shape so she could make money. The next phrase out of her mouth put Ritsuka at a slight ease.

"You will be able to continue your life as a geisha. You might even know the person I sold you to, he seems to know you."

Ritsuka's heard exploded into a dance of uneven beats, his eyes widened. There was really only one man he had gotten to know personally and it was the one person he had been dreaming about these past weeks.

"A man named Agatsuma Soubi."

He gained control of himself again, managing to swallow the saliva he had forgotten when all of his bodily functions seemed to have stopped still. "Soubi? Soubi bought me?"

She nodded. "He said he needed you for an okiya he had started. I'm not sure why he needed you specifically, but you're who he requested."

"Tell me did he," his memory flashed back to the house and garden, "pay a lot of money for me?"

Mieko nodded. "Enough money to keep this okiya afloat like I said, for a good amount of years to come."

Ritsuka merely blinked. His brain was too busy trying to put together a puzzle he only thought was there. Had Soubi gotten close to him to see if he could turn him into a profitable geisha? Or did he really want to know all those things he asked? His eyes began to sting. In his life it was always his luck for it to be the first option, but his heart yelled in protest. It protested that someone could actually care, that someone could give a damn. But his logic and mind disagreed. Standing, he turned so his back was to Mieko so she could not see the battle of emotions play out across his face. His voice came out as a hoarse whisper. "When do I have to leave this okiya?"

"You're room can answer that."

Ritsuka's eyes widened. He had been in his room about 10 minutes ago, right? He didn't remember if anything seemed off, but he had just woken up. Changes in detail could and would go easily unnoticed. He sprinted from the room and up the stairs to go see what he had apparently missed upon waking. Hand on the door, it flung open. How could he not notice this? All of the makeup that belonged to the okiya that previously sat on his table and mirror were gone. The small amount of belongings that were actually his were neatly packed up in the back-right corner. His futon still lay in the middle of the floor in a lazy disarray. Soundlessly Mieko stepped in behind him. "Agatsuma Soubi wil be here for you at noon today, which is soon. I took the liberty of having the maids gather your things. I thought you would wake up so I could tell you then but you slept so heavily even the maids couldn't wake you. So I decided I could give you one last meal in this okiya before I told you."

Ritsuka nodded. "Thankyou." He looked up to see one of the maids stop by the door. She brushed a messy lock of hair out of her face, "Mieko? That man is here."

Wordlessly Mieko turned to Ritsuka. He didn't need to hear it, the phrase was in her eyes. "Goodbye, Mieko."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Natsuo hugged his knees to his chest, his eyes moist and weary from crying all night past sunrise. It was around noon. Out of all of the times he had Youji had spent the countless nights snuggled into each others futons Nagisa had never known about it. He was confused, why was it such a bad thing? They weren't trying anythng they had seen any adults do. They just wanted to be close to each other, to hear their hearts beat in unison.

And now the morning after, Youji was in Nagisa's room attempting to explain temselves. Natsuo wasn't in there because quite frankly Nagisa preffered Youji more. He never knew what reasoning led her to pick a favorite since they were sort of a package deal. But he couldn't complain, if it weren't for Nagisa intervening on their fate that night he would have died a homeless half blind child in the blood stained snow. He never liked to think about what would have happened to Youji if that man had been able to continue on.

Tentatively, his fingers rested against his white eyepatch. The bottle the man had thrown at his face broke on that eye, shredding it. It wasn't like he didn't have one under there, it just didn't look very pleasant. His eye had healed in a way, looking a bit deformed. It was a large sore spot for him. That eye was a representation of the weekness he felt, the inability to save Youji that night. It also became something special to them in a way, Youji was the only person Natsuo let see it. Ever.

Often when they were alone, his mint haired counterpart requested that Natsuo not wear the medically issued eyepatch. He thought it was a special badge of trust between them, that Natsuo trusted Youji enough not to be put off by the look of his disfigured right eye. Fading pink scars still spead out around it. It made Natsuo so happy that Youji didn't mind it, that he would even at times touch it or kiss it when it was closed. He knew no one else could ever compare.

He jumped, upon hearing the sound of Nagisa's door opening. He had been sitting across from her door, hoping to catch a whisper or a word from inside but no luck. Slowly his eyes turned upwad, meeting Youji's. Suprisingly they weren't angry or vengefull, like he thought they would be. What bothered him was that they were completely emotionless, save for the flash of releif that was always present when they were within each others sights. "Youji? What's wrong?" Wordlessly, the mint haired boy offered out his hand. Natsuo took it and stood. Intertwining hands and fingers, Youji led them both back to their room. Closing the door behind them, he finally broke the stifling silence.

"A maid, she was instructed to check on us. She thought we were..." pausing he turned his head to the side slightly. His eyes for once too shy to meet Natsuo's. "Anyway she alerted Nagisa. That's where she came in."

"Did you explain to her?"

His voice came out loud and harsh "What? Explain the woman who took us in that-"

Natsuo stepped forward, grabbing Youji's chin and forcing him to look into his stern glare. "That we're meant for each other and only each other?"

Being forced to watch him as he spoke such words caused a blush to tint his face a rosy color. His temper immidiately cooled and his voice lowered to a soft whisper, "I couldn't tell her."

Natsuo's voice came out clear and strong. "I will then."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Ritsuka's bottom shifted nervously. Soubi had taken him this morning, not to the house with the beautiful garden but to an okiya he had bought.

_"Soubi? This isn't your house?"_

_"Well, technically it is. The house I took you to last time we met as I told you was bought by someone trying to please me. However I myself bought this okiya. I live here now, with a maid named Kio. You'll meet him later. But I'd like to give you the honor of being my okiya's very first geisha."_

_You aren't giving me the honor, you bought me and made me take the honor. Ritsuka thought. It troubled him but he shrugged it off, there was time to think about that later. _

_"You don't seem very happy Ritsuka. Is there anything I can do to change that?"_

_Ritsuka blushed, this was always the redeeming part about Soubi. "Well, I'm pretty hungry."_

_"And what is your favorite food?"_

_Ritsuka's childish face formed into a blank stare. "Ice cream."_

_"Ice cream, OK. Do you have any friends Ritsuka?"_

_He almost immidiately said no, but then one person actually popped into his mind. "I did meet a girl named Yuiko on the street a while back. Why?"_

_"Oh, no reason." Soubi smiled. The kind of smile that had something else behind it._

And this something else was it. "I love this flavor Ristuka! Don't you?" Yuiko smiled with her head turned to the side inquisitavely.

"Yuck. I like vanilla much better." Ritsuka turned his nose up in playful mock disgust.

"You said your name was Soubi right? Thankyou for the icecream!"

So here Ritsuka was, a spur of the moment meeting. Soubi had taken Yuiko and himself to eat icecream, and now they sat at Ritsuka's favorite place in the whole district. A small bridge, without sides so ones legs could easily hang off of the side while sitting on it. Somehow, Soubi had known exactly which okiya Yuiko belonged to. It wouldn't have been as suprising if Yuiko were a geisha, but she was only a maid. Oh well, it was simply another mystery about Soubi that Ritsuka thought he'd somehow never solve. Although now the sun was setting, a que for Yuiko to hurry back to her okiya. Soubi and Ristuka waved goodbye to Yuiko as she happily bounced down the street, almost crashing into a stand while her head was turned back waving at them.

Slowly, Soubi turned to Ristuka. "Are you happier now, Ristuka?"

He nodded eagerly, "yeah! I'm glad you picked up Yuiko and everything. Thankyou!"

Soubi smiled, seemingly glowing, "that's good."

Ristuka looked up at him, "why?"

He kneeled down to meet the smaller ones eye level, "because your happiness is important to me. Just as important as understanding you, which I hold above everything else." Slowly, his long arms encircled the catboy in a warm embrace.

* * *

I hope you all liked the twist I threw in :3 Remember reviews make a happy author ! 

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER 6 - October 26, 2007  
It was about ten o'clock when he stepped out of the front door of the okiya. Kio had given him a confused face and asked him why he was leaving, to which Ritsuka puffed his chestly slightly and responded, "I need to find a woman." Amidst a sea of gut grabbing laughter curtousy of Kio Ritsuka left.


	6. Saved by an angel

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter six: Saved by an angel _

Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. I've tried my best to keep everyone in character.  
I know Ritsuka was born in January and Soubi in September but I couldn't find out what month Kio was born in, so I just chose October. In this story it's late October of 1922, the year of the Dog. This chapter actually continues off about an hour after the last one ended.  
WARNING: This chapter contains almost lemoness but not really. It's not that kind of fic, gomen.

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Three figures stood in one of the hallways of Soubi's new okiya. "Meet our maid, Kio." Soubi held his hand out gesturing towards the lanky teen. 

"Ey!' So you're the Ritsuka kid Soubi's been talking about. To tell you the truth I thought you'd be a little bit older." Kio leaned down a slightly to take a better look at him. Kio couldn't have been but maybe 20, although Soubi said they were the same age. Maybe Kio just looked younger than that, Ritsuka thought. If it weren't for his towering height he would think Kio was his age, save for the more defined angles of his face. And they weren't even that defined. His hair was a rugged mess, of an almost greenish color. His eyes were large and round, which is the main reason as to why he looked so young.

Ritsuka frowned, "I'm not a kid. I've seen thirteen summers, and I was born in the month of January."

"Which means," Soubi interrupted, "that you're birthday is in 3 months. And that you are a year of the Rooster."

Nodding, he asked "what year are you, Kio?"

"Me?" he put his fists to his hips, pushing those hips out to the side. "I'm a year of the Tiger. Being born in October, I'm a month younger than Soubi here."

"If you're a year of the tiger then you must have been born in 1902." That made sense, they were 20. Kio looked a little younger than that but that's not bad. But wait ... Soubi? "Soubi, you're 20?!" He'd just remembered that Soubi told him that the first night they met.

He was confused. "Yes, is there something wrong with that?"

"I thought you were older! Maybe-" he was cut off when Kio began to bust out laughing.

"Hah, he thought you were an older man!" he tried in vain to stifle his laughs but the harder he tried the more he laughed. "I told you its that frowning you're always doing it makes you look older!"

Soubi gave Kio a look that Ritsuka had never seen him make. He couldn't tell if it was embarrassment or what, but when his voice came out it's intention was clear. "Kio, I believe the breakfast dishes are still dirty. Go wash them, twice over to make sure their clean. Actually now that I think about it wash them three times to ensure it."

Kio's mouth feel open. "B-but!"

"Now now," Soubi's slender hand pushed out and closed Kio's jaw. "The sooner you get started the sooner you will finish."

The maid pouted, and stomped off mumbling obscenities under his breath.

"Soubi? I need to talk to you, privately. Can we um, find someplace quieter?" One of Ritsuka's small hands reached up to rub his arm nervously, his eyes downcast at the floor. This shy demure side of him made Soubi wonder. "Sure, we'll go to my work room." He placed a hand on the boys back, leading him to a room at the end of the polished hallway. Opening the door, Ritsuka saw that the walls were lined with shelves, and a small table rested in the center of the room. He took a seat on one side, Soubi on the other. There was a long silence, as Ritsuka found the courage so say what was on his mind. A window on the eastern wall sat open, allowing the moonlight to shine in. A symphony of crickets celebrated the night in the medium sized court yard beyond the window. That eclectic mix of silence and the gentle hum of insect life put Ritsuka's nerves a little more at ease. His heart thumped irregularly when Soubi broke the silence. "Whatever you have to say, it must be important. I don't mind the wait Ritsuka. Tell me whenever you feel you can." The thumping of Ristuka's wild heart was loud and ringing in his ears, he could have sworn it was loud enough for Soubi to hear. Was the cotton of his kimono over his chest beating along with it? He couldn't tell, but it felt so strong he wouldn't be surprised if it was. "Why did you buy me?" the question came out quickly, like the words burned his tongue. Eyes focused on the fingers fiddling in his lap, he couldn't bring himself to look up.

"A new okiya needs geisha or else it isn't an okiya at all." Soubi stated it like it was plain as day.

"Is that the only reason?" his tone was sad.

"What do you want me to say, Ritsuka?"

"Why then?! Why did you get to know me first, to understand me if it was only a deal for you to make money? Clearly you already have a pile of it! So then what was the point?" the beating of his heart sped so fast it almost _hurt_. Tears gathered at the brim of his eyes.

"I do want to understand you Ritsuka. I wanted to get to know you better, and I still have a long way to go. But that is unrelated as to why I bought you."

"Unrelated?!" His eyes squeezed shut, he couldn't stand to see that face he had longed for. "Liar! You're just like Mieko ... you only want money and you want me to be an obedient China doll to make it easier for you." Why? he thought. Why is my heart breaking like this? Abruptly he stood from the table, and his shaking legs made their way to the door. His hand reached out for the door, when Soubi's larger hand grabbed his wrists.

"Ritsuka." Soubi's arms encircled his small, petite shoulders. "Please don't jump to conclusions. I can't stand to see you torn up like this." Gently he turned the smaller boy around to face him. Ritsuka's eyes were puffy and red, tears slid down from them across his cheeks. Soubi's thumbs rubbed underneath the cat boy's eyes, stopping the crystalline tears from flowing. "When you cry, it makes me very sad. I thought if I bought you I could get to know you the best out of anyone in your life. That is what I want."

Surprisingly, Ritsuka's heart stilled. His mind was numb, he didn't know what to do with himself. So he simply stared into Soubi's piercing eyes, trying his best to find any hint of insincerity in the beautifully healing words Soubi used on him. He could find none, but the doubt in his heart still remained. Choosing not to ask the millions of questions flying past his mind he smiled a small and shy smile, "thank you."

Soubi smiled, "no need to thank me." Using his long delicate fingers, he spread the fringe over Ritsuka's forehead. Leaning in, he placed a ghost of a kiss on the tanned skin. "Now hurry to the kitchen, Kio should have made dinner by now."

Speechlessly he nodded, running off to the kitchen.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It had been two weeks since Ritsuka came to Soubi's okiya. To his surprise, he was never pestered about keeping every single body part perfectly scrubbed. He still couldn't put on his kimono by himself but it was OK. Mainly because, after the first under robe was put on Soubi would come in and sit beside the body length mirror Ritsuka stood in front of while Kio dressed him. No matter what he always smiled about it. Surprisingly, Soubi had a good stock of kimono. Not just any kimono though, beautiful kimono that looked way too expensive for a geisha of Ristuka's status to wear. But that was changing, under Soubi's direction he had become much more popular. It's how he found himself sitting where he was now, in a teahouse entertaining with two geisha he had heard a lot about.

"Come on, you want to play too right Ritsuka?" Youji smiled as he poured sake for the dark eared cat boy.

"Sure sure. Hm, what's long hard and dangerous?"

The men seated around the table laughed, perverse visions danced through their minds. Ritsuka rolled his eyes as Youji carried on. "Uwahhh! Ristuka's a nasty guy!"

"No I'm not!!!" Ritsuka blushed, although it was too weak to break through the makeup. "I was talking about a sword!" The men of the room laughed again, this time harder at Youji's mock face of shock. Natsuo's mouth formed into an 'o' shape.

Later on that night, Ritsuka found Youji, Natsuo, and himself lazily wandering the streets of Gion. Their geta clunked in an offbeat tune, as their soft voices and boyish laughed floated through the air. Ritsuka envied how they both were so able to put on brand new personalities while entertaining. As he soon learned, their geisha faces were completely different than the faces they wore while being themselves. Natsuo was actually kind of shy, Youji was still just as loud but he talked differently, with no manners whatsoever and not a clean thought to cross his mind. He could tell though on the occasions where Natsuo would speak up that he was exactly the same. Really, he began to like them. He felt they weren't as judging, they didn't care whether or not he was perfect. Actually, he was sure they liked him for himself. Where had these people been all of his life? People like Soubi, Kio, Yuiko, and now these two were people he only dreamed existed. As they passed by various teahouses, the sounds of muffled laughing and petite voices echoed out and onto the streets. "So, that was your only place for tonight? I'm surprised, you both are very popular."

Natsuo's ears flattened down as he looked away, Youji being braver spoke up. "Well, I mean haven't you noticed something strange about us?"

Eyes empty, Ristuka shook his head in a silent 'no.'

"Let me make it easier for you. See this?" Youji grabbed the russet haired boys hand, intertwining their slender fingers. Stopping their walk, he turned slightly to the side so Ritsuka could see.

Realization dawned on him, and a Ritsuka's cheeks blushed crimson. "O-Oh I'm sorry, I'm not too good on picking up on those things."

Youji smiled, releasing his other halves hand. "It's ok. But other people have started to. And our okiya owner Nagisa recently found out. She wasn't too happy about that."

He frowned, "I'm sorry. But at least you still get to entertain at all right?" smiling half heartedly, Ritsuka surprised himself. It wasn't like him to look on the bright side.

"Actually, no we can't." It was Natsuo's turn to speak. Ritsuka's jaw went slack, his eyes widened just so. "Close your mouth or you'll catch a fly! Anyway, Nagisa told us if we could only get one teahouse a night ten times in a row, she'd disown us. Tonight was that tenth night. It's costing her more money to keep us than we are making for her."

A thought was suddenly in the back of Ristuka's head. No matter how much he tried to suppress it it always rose to the top of his brain like an air bubble in the water. "I might have the solution to your problems! You're names are Youji and Natsuo, right?"

Completely confused, they both nodded.

"Okay, that's great! I'll see you both again soon. I have to get back to my okiya now, bye!" He turned on his heel, running away into the night leaving behind two completely bewildered cat boys. Ritsuka rushed back to his okiya, hastily throwing open the front door and for once remembering to slip off his shoes at the doorway. His footsteps echoed lightly down the hallway despite the harsh and rushed steps he was taking, Ritsuka didn't weigh much. As he made his way down the hallway, those steps slowed. Strange noises echoed from Soubi's room. They were noises he had heard many times in the dead of night emanating from Yamato's room, but he never understood them. He didn't dare to find out either. But this was different. It was Soubi's room. Shyly, he used his pinky finger to slide open the door the tiniest fraction he could manage. Slitted yet rounded eyes looked into the dimly lit room, it was hard to make out the shapes.

It would have been harder though if he were not as familiar with the layout of his owners room. Straining, he managed to see the spot on the floor were the futon was supposed to be, and there it was. But instead of being neatly kept and empty like it always was - Ritsuka wasn't even sure that Soubi slept- it was bulging with a figure. No, two figures. With the dim help of candle and moonlight, Ritsuka managed to tell them apart. Something inside of him released, a bad feeling of remorse. Curiosity killed the cat they say. In the dim light he made out the shape of Soubi's bare back, muscles moving and contracting under the sweaty skin. Beneath him lay a woman, Ritsuka didn't have a clue as to who she was. He did know however that she was just as bare as Soubi was. He realized what they were doing, and felt a strange breakage in his chest. The feeling rose into his throat and choked him. Ritsuka was secretly trying so hard to get close to Soubi and here some stranger of a wanton woman was performing the most sacred of dances with him. A fire of strange determination ignited inside of him.

If he can go off with other women so can I!

After a few minutes Ritsuka had taken off his makeup and taken his hair down, and exchanged the kimono colored with rich oranges and yellows for a plain cotton one, in a more masculine pattern of dark blue and grey pinstripes. It was about ten o'clock when he stepped out of the front door of the okiya. Kio had given him a confused face and asked him why he was leaving, to which Ritsuka puffed his chest slightly and responded, "I need to find a woman." Amidst a sea of gut grabbing laughter courtesy of Kio Ritsuka left. Why was he acting this way? He asked himself. Seeing Soubi with a woman had set off something inside of him. Something that hurt. Wandering the streets, he came across a small alleyway where a familiar giggling reverberated off of the walls. Turning into it, he found it was deeper in. He turned left as the alleyway did, where he found Yuiko holding golden autumn leaves up to her lips and blowing them high into the air, watching them float downward.

"Yuiko," Ritsuka knelt in front of her, taking a hold of her shoulders and looking straight into her eyes.

"Ritsuka?" She sounded surprised, and she had every right to be. She would have asked him what he was doing in an alleyway by her okiya this late at night, that is if his lips hadn't come crashing down on hers. It was an awkward kiss, they both fumbled not knowing what to do. The knowledge of their bodies soon took over however, when Yuiko began to knot her fingers into the silken hairs of Ritsuka's head. The gentle moan that escaped his lips surprised him, it encouraged something inside of him to go on. While Yuiko's hands were focused in his hair, Ritsuka's hands wandered aimlessly. Until they came across her ample bosom, then his hands dove in with full force squeezing and massaging the precious mounds of flesh. Their lips moved in a shaky unison, the adrenaline of the moment causing them both to tremble. Suddenly, like she had just remembered something important Yuiko's hands found their way back to Ritsuka's chest and she pushed him away, standing up. "I shouldn't be doing this! I-I'm sorry!" she bowed deeply. Ritsuka stood too, panting and still trembling. "I need to go." Yuiko's words came out choked, then she turned her back to him and ran.

As her back disappeared into the night, the feeling hit Ritsuka like a train. _What have I done?_

* * *

DUN DUN DUNNN:O Thank you again to all who review, I need to make you guys cookies some time.

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER 7 - November 9th, 2007  
He didn't know Soubi as well as he should, but also he didn't think that Soubi would go out and take in two former geisha without a second thought using the reasoning 'because Ritsuka wanted me to.' Maybe it was to make it up for the other woman? And then again, why would Soubi feel the need to make up for something like that?


	7. All alone in Tokyo

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter seven: All Alone in Tokyo_

Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless. The song "Geisha dreams" belongs to the band Rollergirl. I've used their lyics as the title for this chapter.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. I've tried my best to keep everyone in character. This chapter was rather hard to write ...

* * *

A week later, Ritsuka hadn't dared to tell anyone about his little midnight excursion with Yuiko. And lately, he had had a hard time looking Soubi in the face. Every time he did, the sounds of his love making with some other woman clogged his ears and the only vision he could conjure in his head was that of Soubi's pale back. Even worse, when he remembered those events they reproduced the memories of Yuiko in his head. The feel of her lips, the soft feminine tenderness of her- well let's not go there.

With a grimace, he lazily chewed on his breakfast. Strangely enough, a feeling of guilt had been welling up inside of his stomach that seemed to keep his appetite from surfacing like usual. It confused him. He'd done nothing wrong, right? He wasn't cheating on anyone. What he felt worst about was toying with Yuiko like that, she was only there to make him feel better about himself. Nothing he had done, not one body movement or whispered moan had his heart behind it. However what was behind it, was a loaded gun of jealousy. Now he sat across the breakfast table from his mystery with the piercing eyes, and next to Kio. The tumultuous whirlwind of emotions openly displayed in Ritsuka's pupils didn't go on unnoticed by Soubi.

"Ritsuka, is something bothering you?"

His answer was short and rough, "no."

"I don't believe you. For almost a week now you've been keeping something pent up in that head of yours. I want to understand it." Piercing eyes flickered to Kio, "do you have any ideas?"

Kio placed a finger to his bottom lip in thought, "ano... one week ago? That's right! He did the most hilarious thing."

Ritsuka's eyes slitted harder than usual, throwing a nasty glare to the messy haired adult.

"What was that?"

"Real late at night, he just up and left the okiya! Trying to act like an adult he looked me straight - straight in the eye mind you and said 'I'm going to find a woman.'" When he quoted Ritsuka his voice became deep and manly. Remembering the event, Kio began chuckling again.

Soubi's face was completely dumbfounded, his smoldering cigarette almost slid out of his mouth but thankfully he caught it at the last second. Hoping that he didn't have to ask for an explanation he looked at Ritsuka with eyes the cat boy had never seen him use before.

"Well, I ahh," A deep scarlet colored his overall face. He wasn't about to tell the man who bought him and cared for him that he'd snuck out late at night to find a girl. "I was only joking! I really went to a meeting place down the street to catch up with Natsuo and Youji." He was surprised at how easily the lie tumbled from his lips. As soon as it did though he felt a pang of guilt.

Soubi's eyebrows raised in interest, "you're acquainted with those two?"

Ritsuka nodded eagerly, "actually I wanted to ask you something about them! See, recently their owner uhm," pausing a moment he thought up another lie. If Soubi heard about their relationship he might not want them either, "has been having financial troubles so she disowned them. I met the two at their last performance in a teahouse one week ago."

Pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose he looked troubled, "anyone in their right mind would never disown those boys. They are two of the most popular entertainers in all of Gion. But, what did you want to ask me about them?"

"Can you buy them please?!" pushing himself to his knees and out of his seat, he leaned forward over the table. His hands clasped together in a begging position and his tail wagged thirstily.

Soubi smiled, pushing forth one of his large hands to pat Ritsuka adoringly on the head. "I will meet with them first. I may not have to buy them, if they have already been disowned."

Large, thankful eyes raised to meet the piercing ones. "Arigatou!" running around the table from his seat to Soubi's, Ritsuka glomped the older man with full force. Somehow he'd forgotten the guilt, if only for that moment. All he could think about was the mixture of musk and cigarette smoke that was Soubi's scent, and the warmth that emanated from his body. They both assaulted the cat boy's senses. "Arigatou." He said again, this time in a quiet breathy voice.

"Aww how cute. Now out of my way I need to get to these dishes before Soubi makes me double wash them. _Again_." Kio interrupted the moment by reaching in front of them grabbing the dishes and clacking them together a little too loudly. When Kio had gathered them all and left the room, sliding the door closed noisily behind him the two looked at each other's faces. Soubi's hands slid underneath of Ristuka's arms, lifting him to sit on the low table. His feet planted comfortably on the floor, toes nervously fidgeting together Ritsuka's eyes stayed downcast. Soubi placed his hand beneath the younger one's chin, lifting it and wordlessly demeaning he look him in the eye. Just like those first nights they met three months ago, when Ritsuka was not accustomed to Soubi's soul prying questions.

"I apologize for anything you may have seen or heard that night. It was wrong of me to do that."

Large, glossy eyes stared back at him. "Wha, how did you know?"

"Just a hunch. But if you really want me to get Natsuo and Youji, I have to get going and find them then. If it's been a week, they could be anywhere. I know the owner of their okiya. She's in no financial trouble at all. Whatever they did to cross Nagisa, it must have been big. She doesn't turn so easily on people but once she does it isn't very pretty."

A look of shame spread across Ritsuka's face, Soubi had caught one of his lies. Maybe, he thought. But the older man still was completely unknowing of the biggest part of his first lie, they way he'd gone out shamelessly and find Yuiko in the darkness of night. He didn't know Soubi as well as he should, but also he didn't think that Soubi would go out and take in two former geisha without a second thought using the reasoning 'because Ritsuka wanted me to.' Maybe it was to make it up for the other woman? And then again, why would Soubi feel the need to make up for something like that? He didn't know, the thoughts over flooded his mind and he placed his head in the support of his hands.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Youthful and round grey orbs traced every wall and floor. "Uwahh! What a huge place! I didn't know a man like you could own an okiya like this, Soubi." Youji's loud voice rang through the halls.

"And just what do you mean a man like me?"

"Hey!" Natsuo jabbed Youji in the side with one of his elbows. "Don't act like that to the person who just took us in off of the street. Save that attitude up for Ritsuka!" Natsuo gave his counterpart a devilish smile and a wink.

"Ugh. Why am I so different?" Ritsuka formed a fake pout. "I'm the one who begged Soubi to take you guys in. He might even have to put up with Nagisa's badgering if she suddenly wants you two back."

Both of their faces fell, to a mix of solemnity and lack of emotion they were taught to have. "She won't want us back."

"What makes you think that?" Ritsuka asked innocently, his feline ears bending slightly.

"Nagisa is too convinced that we're both starving to steal each others ears." Youji explained, while rolling his eyes. Soubi chuckled, and Kio who was sitting on the nearby stairs made a face of mild disgust. "You guys are both kids, what did she find you two doing to make her think that anyway?!"

Natsuo scowled at him. "That's none of your business."

Youji however was more occupied by Kio's earlier comment, "we aren't kids! Were the same age as Ritsuka!"

"Yeah, and Ritsuka's a kid too." Popping a piece of candy in to his mouth his head gestured over to Ritsuka, who smiled sheepishly.

"Anyway, instead of standing in the hallway I'll show you both you're new room." Soubi announced, he paused to get any luggage they may have brought but started up the stairs when he realized he'd found them sleeping beside a building beneath some newspapers. So obviously, they didn't have anything with them. Kio and Ritsuka watched them disappear onto the second floor. Without any explanation Kio ruffled Ritsuka's hair with a smile, then began walking to his room down the hall. The cat boy watched, and before Kio stepped into his room he looked back. "You're a good kid, Ritsuka. I'm glad you came into Soubi's life." And then he was gone. Those kind words startled Ritsuka. What did he mean, about coming into Soubi's life? An uncomfortable feeling spread over him. Kio knew something that he didn't. A something that now bugged his mind, he wanted - no he needed to know. His speculations were interrupted when he heard a rap on the front door. Sliding it open, he was surprised by the young but still taller than him face in the doorway.

"Ritsuka!" Yuiko called out. Immediately she wrapped her arms around him, pushing a cold kiss onto his lips. Although he didn't kiss back this time, his eyes remained open in shock. "Y-Yuiko!" he managed to speak into the kiss. She pulled away, bringing her hands to rest on his shoulders. "I'm sorry about running away the other night, but I promise anything you want to do with me you can do now I'm ready!" Her face was flushed red.

"No, I'm sorry Yuiko."

Yuiko's expression fell, leaving a confused face. "Why?"

"The other night, I don't know what I was thinking. It was all on impulse." Again he found himself staring at the floor.

"Oh. Well, uhm. It's ok! Really. It's almost a relief. I was so confused after you did that, I didn't know what to do with myself! But if you didn't mean anything big by it then that's ok. I was just worried that I had upset you by running away."

Oh Yuiko, poor naive pure hearted Yuiko.

"I was confused too, I mean it's not that I didn't mean anything by it. But don't misunderstand me I wasn't using you just for that, and," in frustration he stopped to pull back the ebony locks from his face. As if the words he were trying to put together were written on the walls around him his eyes darted to and fro. Things on the inside of his head were so flip flopped he didn't know the meaning of anything he was saying anymore. "I'm sorry Yuiko. I'm very confused right now."

Her lips drew into a pout or they were pursed, he couldn't tell. After a brief moment of silence, much to his relief she smiled. "I understand perfectly! It should have been obvious to me when we went to eat ice cream that one day, you and Soubi are secret lovers and that night he denied your deepest desires so you had to come to me as an outlet!"

Ritsuka's eyes shot open wider than he knew they could, his mouth dropped open. "L-l-lovers?!"

Kio's nasal pitched laughter sounded from behind him, surprising Ritsuka into a twirl around to face him. "Kio! How long have you been listening?" Rushed words stumbled awkwardly over Ritsuka's lips. The cat boy took a stance in front of Yuiko, almost like he could hide her.

"Enough to know that you did something stupid, kid." Kio poked Ritsuka on the forehead with a pointer finger. The words may have been harsh but he said them in a kind and joking way, like a big brother. "So who's this girl that you apparently molested?"

"I did not molest her!"

"My name's Yuiko! And Ritsuka is right he didn't molest me, I'm just fine. Are you one of Mr. Soubi's geisha?"

It seemed Kio was always laughing, as he was again. "Me? A geisha? That's funny, I wouldn't be able to stand keeping up with polite conversation and all that. I'm his only maid, Kio."

"It's nice to meet you Kio, and you're they only maid here? It must be nice, only having to clean up after Soubi and Ritsuka."

"I clean up after myself..." Ritsuka stood off to the side watching their conversation with a flat face.

"Well it was just Soubi and Ritsuka up until this morning. Just before you got here actually, we took in two new geisha named Natsuo and Youji. Anything Soubi can do to please Ritsuka, he will."

"Wow, Ritsuka Natsuo _and _Youji! Mr. Soubi must be trying to build a super dream team of geisha. And I was right, Ritsuka and Soubi are lovers!"

Ritsuka couldn't stand the chatter anymore, when he felt the heat creep up his neck. "We aren't lovers!" His cat ears folded back flat on his head and his face formed a scowl.

"Oh! I'm sorry Ritsuka. But, I've been here too long I need to go or my owner will be angry with me. It was nice meeting you Kio, and goodbye Ritsuka!" She gave one of her too bright smiles and waved, drifting out of the doorway and running into the haze people of the crowded streets, blending in perfectly. As soon as Kio slid the door shut behind her, the two of them paused. His hand remained on the doorframe. Ritsuka wondered if he was rethinking the comment he made earlier. The _I'm glad you came into Soubi's life_ comment. Kio's head slowly turned to face Ritsuka, his face blank yet his eyes full of judgment. He was speculating on something. Sure enough a sly grin spread across his face. "Ritsuka has a girl friend." He taunted.

"Yuiko isn't my girlfriend! She's a girl and she's my friend but she's just a friend." Ritsuka pouted childishly, he didn't like being teased like that.

"I'm just kidding with you. Besides if she was," he paused to wipe a non-existent tear from his eye and sobbed dryly, "Soubi would be devastated!!!"

Ritsuka took the nearby newspaper and clobbered him over the head with it.

Again Kio laughed, "don't worry! I'm still glad you exist, for Soubi's sake even if your last name is Aoya-gi..." when he realized he let the name slip, his voice sank to a whisper.

"Even if my last name is Aoyagi? What is that supposed to mean?"

Quickly the youth regained his timeless smile. "Nothing! Nothing at all." And with that, he ambled back to his room

* * *

I smell a secret that Kio's hiding :3 Oh yeah, today is my boyrfiends 17th bday. Happy bday Casey!

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER EIGHT - November 23rd, 2007  
"That Ritsu person, I think you've told me about him before." Kio crossed the room to sit cross-legged infront of Soubi.

"I have, do you remember?"

"Yeah. Humm, was he the one you lost your ears to?"


	8. Cloudless night

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter eight: Cloudless night _

Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. I've tried my best to keep everyone in character.  
Obi - The "belt" of the kimono, the sash  
Tadaima - "I'm home"  
Okairenasai - "Welcome home"

* * *

"Mou, you're pulling too tight!" Youji complained. His arms fell from their outward position so he could pretend that he was being strangled, "I can't breathe, you're killing me!" 

"Would you quit complaining? I barely wrapped it around you. Hell it will fall off if I don't put it back on tighter!" Kio grimaced, they had been squabbling over the young boy's obi(1) for 10 minutes. With a sudden tight pull Youji let out a yelp.

"Quit being such a baby about it." Natsuo commented to his other half. "I think you look great." The two's eyes met briefly in a loving way but then quickly broke away.

"My, for someone I took in off of the street you wouldn't think he'd complain so much." Soubi was sitting in a casual style beside the mirror, like he always did when the three were being dressed. A tradition he started when it was only Ritsuka there.

"Oh come on that's not fair!" Youji pouted, his arms returning to point straight out in opposite directions so Kio could continue. Soubi merely smiled.

Natsuo and Ritsuka sat on the other side of the mirror, judging each other on how they sat. Giving hints to straighten one another's backs there, to lift their chins that few more degrees upward. For the past two weeks life had seemingly returned to normal, Ritsuka hadn't seen Yuiko at all. Although that made waves of guilt wash upon him, he thought it was a lot easier not seeing her. But never the less Yuiko was his friend, the second one he had ever made just a few months ago. He owed to her more than this. More companionship, more friendship. Even more so he needed to give her a reason for their sudden midnight rendezvous, but he hadn't even come up with one yet. It was apparent, jealousy. Jealousy over seeing Soubi secretly making love to a stranger. But, that was no reason he could see. Ritsuka couldn't pin it, pin the reason why seeing that sweaty event happen made him feel the need to prove that he could do it too. Maybe I was feeling overwhelmed, living in a house were everyone else had lost their ears. He would tell himself. That was the only thing he could imagine. What was Soubi to him? Someone close to him of course, but then again so was Yuiko. Both of their smiles sent his heart into an excited flurry of a dance. He was sure if he had come across Yuiko doing that, he would have reacted in the same way. Geisha weren't supposed to be feeling this, whatever it was he was sure of that. But it couldn't be but so wrong, it's something Natsuo and Youji feel. Not only that but it's something they feel _towards each other_.

But since those two came to the okiya, it seemed that they had never lost their vast popularity among patrons and kept a strong hold onto their positions. They had experienced a dip under Nagisa's negative handling but popped right back up under Soubi. It amazed Ritsuka how they both could look at it in such a serious business sense. He never had the mind for things he didn't want to do. But apparently they had spread the word of being taken in by Soubi and that they now shared an okiya with Ritsuka, because the dark haired cat boy's popularity skyrocketed to sit on an even level with theirs. Now the youth went from visiting one teahouse per night, only visiting the dumpiest of places to something completely different. He was hob-nobbing with the greats and pouring sake for men far richer than Soubi at multiple teahouses a night. At first he was nervous, he wasn't used to having to keep up with the flow of conversation. Especially when now conversation was about happenings around the whole nation of Japan, who was richer than who and the reputations of geisha everywhere.

It had brought into light a lot of things he hadn't known. Men knew of Mieko, they spoke of her has a money grubbing hag with a few polished marbles but mainly a batch of dingy ones. At least that's what he told them, when he heard more stories he was able to decode the metaphor. He thought Yamato as an almost big sister figure. Apparently, as of late she had gotten herself into a bit of trouble. It was no shock that she had no ears, she sold them at a young age. So there was no way to tell when she'd been messing around or who she was messing around with. He was surprised when another popular geisha he'd seen of named Koya was rumored to have a relationship with her. It actually shocked more than surprised him. Koya had spent a ton of time at his okiya, sipping tea with Yamato and talking. He thought they were best friends, but apparently they were more than that. It clicked inside him that now and he knew why they looked at each other the way they did, with just the same glowing brightness in their eyes as Natsuo and Youji. Now that he thought about it Koya didn't have her ears either, and the strange muffled sounds escaping Yamato's room on nights when Koya stayed over without Mieko knowing made sense. Thinking about it made him blush.

"Finally, I thought it would take Kio forever to dress you." Natsuo shot Kio a grin, while he walked up to his partner gently holding both his hands with his own. "You look good as always." The russet haired boy finished his sentence with a grin, and nuzzled his nose against Youji's. Since their lips were painted, they couldn't kiss so they nuzzled instead. Kio frowned, "you're going to rub each other's makeup off, so stop! I don't want to hear you two complaining when you have to re-apply it. Playfully, Natsuo stuck his tongue out at the older man and blew a loud raspberry. Youji smiled and held his fists to his hips in triumph.

"Now listen, all three of you. Tonight you're entertaining at a top of the line venue. Among the men there, I've been told Ritsu will be attending. Make sure he's happy or else I'll be the one to hear about it."

"Why you?" Ritsuka tilted his head that the other man in confusion, his tail waving in patience.

"It's a long and boring story but it ends with him being tied to us directly, in a financial sense. I don't think I need to stress to any of you further how important that is." Cigarette smoke drifted from his mouth as he spoke.

"Yeah yeah, I got it be nice to this Ritsu whoever he is." Youji placed both of his hands behind his head leisurely. "Let's get going." Without another word he walked from the room, with Natsuo and a curious Ritsuka following close behind. Kio began following them too, but then stopped at the doorway when he noticed Soubi wasn't the caboose on this little geisha train. He turned his head back to him, "are you coming?"

Soubi took a long drawn out drag on his cigarette, "not tonight. I think I'll stay in here."

"Suit yourself." Kio left. After making sure all three young geisha had on the right shoes and sparking the flint over there shoulders he bid them goodbye. Something bothered them though, Soubi always watched them leave. Ritsuka, particularly. Going back upstairs to the room where he had dressed the three he saw Soubi still sitting there, motionless in the flickering candlelight. "Soubi?"

Slowly, the blondes head turned in Kio's direction. It seemed almost in slow motion and it was a while before he found the voice to answer. "Yes?"

"That Ritsu person, I think you've told me about him before." Kio crossed the room to sit cross-legged in front of Soubi.

"I have, do you remember?"

"Yeah. Humm, was he the one you lost your ears to?"

"No that was a different person. Almost, though."

"That's right, he tried to take them but someone interrupted I think. Afterwards he tried making it up to you by buying you a whole bunch of stuff, right?"

"Something like that. He still buys me things, you know."

Slowly, Kio pt the pieces together. "He bought this okiya for you ... didn't he?"

"No, he bought my former house for me. But I sold it and bought this, so in a way it was my money responsible for the okiya."

Kio gave a short and quiet laugh, "yeah because you sold what he bought you. But I can't complain, since I'm here I'm kind of living off of him too."

Soubi nodded. "You are, and so are the boys. That's why I told them to please him. They are oblivious to whom he is, but he certainly knows who they are."

"Scary sounding guy, let's hope they do well."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"And so then he did the funniest thing I've ever seen," Natsuo fanned himself, "to make the child stop crying he started doing the most ridiculous dance in the middle of the street!" The men Natsuo was telling the story to laughed politely. Ritsuka smiled at Youji, "it sounds like a dance I would want to see, can you do it now?" He was getting better at polite, witty conversation.

Youji shook his head furiously, "no no no no, I was only trying to keep a small child from crying!"

"It was crying because you scared it," Natsuo said with a giggle.

"It wasn't on purpose." As Youji pouted, the men in the room chuckled. They certainly weren't a rowdy bunch, but they weren't dead weights either. Aged men who looked at their conversation like they were reliving their childhood, that's who they were. So it was a bit of a surprised, when two young and good looking men came into the room. Out of courtesy the aged men greeted them. Ritsuka recognized one of them, it was the man who'd accompanied Soubi the first night they'd met. He remembered Soubi called him Ritsu.

"Good evening!" Ritsuka greeted them with a large smile.

"Good evening." Ritsu answered. Natsuo continued on telling stories, while after scanning the room for a few moments Ritsu took a seat next to Youji.

"Sake?" The sea foam haired geisha offered. Youji placed a cup in front of Ritsu and began to pour some for him. Ritsu stared at him as Youji poured, his eyes observing the geisha's slender hands with a strange thirst. Youji turned his face up to his with a smile and yet inwardly he shivered. This guy gives me the creeps! Youji thought. Ritsuka was sure Ritsu was properly entertained, so he turned his attention to observe the other man. Reaching about six foot two inches he was taller than Ritsu. His hair was dark, just about the same color as Ritsuka but with a gentle wave to it. For the majority of the night, that mysterious gentlemen remained silent. Ritsuka was positive he hadn't heard him speak until Ritsu spoke. "Well it's been a long night and I believe we should be getting home." He turned so he was staring down at Ritsuka. "Tell Soubi that I said hello." Giving a demure smile Ritsuka nodded. Ritsu then shifted his gaze to his silent companion. "Let's go, Seimei." And then they were gone.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"So, that was the last place right?" Ritsuka asked. His voice was tired and his features sagged with fatigue.

"Yeah," Natsuo sighed, walking with his two friends down the street not too far from the okiya.

"Ritsu is one weird guy! I mean yeah you expect a reaction as a geisha when you show the tiniest amount of bare skin but his hands were practically shaking." Youji's eyes were glued to the ground, his face indifferent. The next words he barely whispered so only Natsuo caught them, "he reminded me of the stranger who took your eye." Thoughtfully Natsuo's hand took Youji's, their fingers lacing. Ritsuka's eyes caught this affectionate gesture, only to look away shyly. The rest of their short walk home was spent in silence. Youji and Natsuo's eyes would flicker to each other and meet occasionally, speaking in a language no one else could hear or understand. Ritsuka felt slightly awkward whenever the two did that, so his eyes strayed upward to watch the stars dance around the waning midnight moon. That night, there were no clouds out.

The three reached the okiya in only a few minutes, sliding open the door Youji shouted "tadaima!" to have Kio and Soubi reply "okairenasai" as they always did. Ritsuka hadn't known that to happen in any other okiya, so it made him feel special. Like this was a real home, and it almost was. A familiar, bell like voice rang from the shadows just as Ritsuka was about to step in. "Ritsuka! You're finally back!"

Ritsuka spun around, looking up slightly to see none other than Yuiko. Glancing back inside the okiya Kio looked at him with a confused face, Soubi watched with his normal cool expression and the two musketeers had already disappeared onto the second floor. "I'll be in in a few seconds." With that Ritsuka closed the front door, remaining standing in the street. "Uhm, hello Yuiko." Ritsuka fidgeted due to the cumbersome feel in the air, and he was nervous. Yuiko had never seen him all dolled up.

"Wow wow! Ritsuka you look so pretty I can't believe it, if I didn't know it was you I'd think you were really a girl!"

Ritsuka pouted at the gender confusion, "Thanks I guess, but was there something you needed Yuiko?"

As if she remembered something, her lips drew into a thin hard line, her eyebrows pulling together. "It's something hard to say."

"Well, it can't be that bad. So go ahead I'll be glad to listen." Ritsuka's smile beamed.

"Ritsuka, I like you very much." She was stumbling over her words.

"I like you very much too." His right ear twitched innocently.

Her cheeks puffed out and she sighed heavily. "I'm not sure you understand though..."

"Understand?"

"Ritsuka, I love you!"

* * *

Le gasp! Mmm, I couldn't help but to put Koya and Yamato's relationship in there. Networking! So pwease weview! X3 Seimei?! gasp choke  
PS this was a few hours late, gomen!

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER NINE - December 7th, 2007

"You're so young Ritsuka, I wonder if you don't know?" Soubi repeated himself from earlier.

"What?" Ritsuka tried his best to look away, but Soubi's strong grip caught ahold of the catboy's chin and he was forced to look into those peircing eyes.

"I wonder if you don't know that I-"


	9. Tender Sinful Indulgence

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter nine: Tender Sinful Indulgence_

Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. I'm sorry if Ritsuka seems insanely OOC in this story. But, he does have different circumstances than the real Ritsuka since he has no knowlege of Seimei (that you know about X3) and Seimei is obviously alive so this Ritsuka is much less angsty and teenagery. But like the real one, this story version of Ritsuka is still learning that other people care about you and you can care about them. So I try and that's just as good, deshou?

WARNING: almost lemony goodness again, and I DON'T want to raise my rating because of something that isn't going to happen. So you've been warned 0 :3

* * *

"I like you very much too." His right ear twitched innocently. 

Her cheeks puffed out and she sighed heavily. "I'm not sure you understand though..."

"Understand?"

"Ritsuka, I love you!"

Every sound of the night came to a screeching halt, and a thick layer of silence spread itself over the both of them. Not even the sounds of their hearts beating broke through. He wasn't sure about Yuiko, but he knew for sure that his heart stopped. Even if it was only for a few seconds, it had felt like years. With a jolt the world came back into life and sound, the chirping of the crickets resumed and the ghostly laughter drifting down the streets from parties continued. As if it were working it's hardest to restart, Ritsuka's heart slowly but surely began beating again. When had the color left his face? He couldn't tell. Their eyes acted like repelling magnets, darting away each time they tried to meet.

That's right, Ritsuka recounted. That's how I got in this position.

The cat boy's voice was raspy and struggled to even be heard, "I don't know yet if I can say the same thing to you Yuiko." It was the only thing he could manage to get out.

"That's okay, I was expecting that kind of answer. I just wanted to tell you before I left."

"You're leaving?"

"I'm not a maid anymore, now I'm only a street Yuiko."

He didn't look it but Soubi really had TOO big of a heart.

"W-what?!"

"My owner disowned me! She couldn't afford me and I made no money to pay for myself. She's sending me to a house in the pleasure district."

Ritsuka's face swelled red. "Soubi!" he shouted. Immediately the front door slid open and tall calm Soubi made a silhouette in the doorway. "Yes?"

"You'll do anything to make me happy right?"

"Anything for you, Ritsuka."

"Then Yuiko is our new maid!"

Yuiko's eyes widened, her tail waving in excitement but her voice protested. "No, I can't impose on Mr. Soubi like that!"

Already, Soubi had stepped into the street. Like a true gentlemen he lifted Yuiko's left hand, piercing his gaze in to her eyes. "Welcome to our okiya, new maid Yuiko."

And that is where Ritsuka found himself currently, sitting casually against the wall alongside Youji and Natsuo watching Yuiko scramble about the kitchen. Dressed in plain cotton kimono and without make up, you would have thought that it was just three normal boys sitting there instead of three popular geisha. Kio's kind hearted attempts at teaching her to cook since she arrived seemed to be failing miserably. The three boys talked quietly amongst each other trying not to disturb them, laughing occasionally when Yuiko would drop ingredients on to the floor or spill water on Kio, which happened several times.

"Yuck, I think this is one dinner I can't save." Kio stood back from the monstrosity Yuiko had made which bubbled and gave off smoke as he rubbed the back of his neck in thought.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Kio! I warned you, I can't cook very well."

Kio smiled, "that's ok! How about this plan, we send everyone else out to eat and we stay here to make some practice dishes?" Over the past week or so Kio had shown Yuiko a surprising amount of patience for the usually bed headed young adult.

Yuiko's smile immediately lit up the room twelve shades brighter. "That sounds fun!" Soubi, who had been standing in the corner smoking tossed away his cigarette butt and crossed the room to stand in front of his three geisha. "It would be nice to go eat somewhere else for a change. Shall we go?" Ritsuka stood up, his tail waving and batting the wall behind him eagerly. "Let's go I'm starving!" a loud and unsettling growl raised from his stomach, proving his point. Soubi's gaze turned downwards to the two boys still sitting in the floor. "Are you both coming?"

"Nah!" Natsuo smiled up at him. "Neither of us are very hungry."

Soubi seemed pleased at the thought of having dinner alone with Ritsuka, so he didn't try very hard to convince Youji or Natsuo to come along. "If you two want to try and survive Kio and Yuiko's experiments then go on ahead, I won't. We'll return later tonight." Acting like a gentleman, Soubi held out his elbow. Ritsuka using all the grace of a geisha delicately wrapped elbows with him. When they had left, Youji stared at the space where the two had once stood. "Soubi's a pervert."

Laughter burst into the room from the usual person. "You're a slow learner." Kio commented.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

A soft ambient light lit up the place Soubi had taken Ritsuka. "Are you enjoying yourself?" Soubi watched Ritsuka carefully as the younger one devoured a bowl of rice.

"Yeah. Since Yuiko came I haven't been eating well, so this is the best meal I've had since you took her in." Slowly he forced himself to set down his chopsticks. "And I want to thank you for that."

"There's no need to thank me. It made you happy and that is what is most important to me." Tentatively, Soubi's hands inched further closer towards Ritsuka's where they rested on the table top.

"Why do you say things like that? You shouldn't say things you don't mean." Lately Ritsuka was having trouble shaking the feeling that Soubi wanted him, Natsuo and Youji purely for their business value. But then again why would he have adopted three people, on a whim just because he wanted him to?

"I do mean those things, Ritsuka. I'm sorry, you seem to have a hard time trusting people's intentions. I wish I could change that."

Ritsuka's eyes perked up to meet Soubi's, and they were glued there. He could find no spec, no hint of bad intentions in the older ones eyes. "It's something I don't understand, what makes you want my happiness? It's not necessary to you, and it doesn't get you any money. So, I don't understand."

Soubi chuckled, but in a warm way. "You're so young Ritsuka, I wonder if you don't know?"

"Know what?" His eyebrows knotted together in confusion.

"Don't worry about it, for now. And I realized the other day that I don't know much about you're family. Would you care to tell me? It would make me very happy to learn more about you in that respect."

A sad look settled deep into Ritsuka's features, Soubi could tell that it was something that had weighed heavily on the young teen's mind before. After taking a deep breath, Ritsuka began twiddling his fingers. "I don't remember much. I know I once lived with my family in a house. I was so young though, I don't remember anyone but my mother. And that was only for a short time, afterwards I went to live in a large place with a great number of people. They may have all been my family, or not I'm not sure. But now that I think most of them were children and ... " as Ritsuka trailed on Soubi interrupted him with a realization.

"An orphanage?"

Ritsuka remained silent, staring at the table. He hadn't thought of that before, and when he was there he was too young to know what the place was. It definitely made sense though "Yes, I suppose it was. Now that I think about it. But if that was the case then I have no idea if I have any family left or where they might be." As he finished that sentence, he got an overpowering feeling. The feeling of being alone. That was always present, but now it was much more severe. Soubi picked up on this, and his hands reached out gently grasping Ritsuka's.

"I'm guessing Mieko bought you from there, then?"

He nodded, not wanting to look at Soubi. The older man was too much of a good guesser.

"You're so young Ritsuka, I wonder if you don't know?" he repeated himself from earlier.

"What?" Ritsuka tried his best to look away, but Soubi's strong grip caught a hold of the cat boy's chin and he was forced to look into those piercing eyes.

"I wonder if you don't know that I love you?"

Ritsuka's eyes shot open wide, Yuiko had told him the same thing. Before he could open his mouth to protest Soubi leaned in.

And pressed against Ritsuka's lips the most gentle and loving kiss he'd ever felt.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Silence. It was the only thing Natsuo could hear in the okiya that particular night. Lately, it had been so full of people that there was usually a conversation or Yuiko shouting about random things in to all hours of the night. In a lazy daze he stood in front of his open bedroom window. There were no candles nor lights lit in the room, causing the moonlight drifting through the window to be the only source of light in the room. His eyes fixated themselves on it in wonder. It was a full moon tonight, he was sure of it. Life here at Soubi's okiya was fun, everyone was an ally. There was seemingly no competition between it's three geisha and the maids were treated on an equal level with the owner, something completely unfounded. He wasn't used to the familial feeling, but it was comforting. It felt good. Although, he'd never spoken to Youji about it before he was pretty positive he felt the same way. The two shared a strong, almost psychic bond of empathy. Whatever one felt, so did the other. Absent-mindedly, Natsuo lifted his hand up and pretended to touch the moon. Then, a slightly more tanned hand caressed his that reached for the moon. Right away, he knew it was Youji. The tanned hand gently grabbed Natsuo's alabaster one, and his voice cooed into the redhead's ear. "If I wasn't so sure it was too far away, I'd reach for the moon with you."

Natsuo smiled, "even if it is too far away, you know you'd do it too."

"Mmm, you're probably right." Gently, he turned his counterpart around to face him pushing him slightly to the side. "I don't want to push you out of the window though I do know that." He pressed his other softly against the wall beside the window. "In this light, you're cuter than usual." Natsuo blushed. "Thank you." Youji placed his hands on either side of Natsuo's jaws, and for a long while they stood there. Basking in the rare silence of the night, the mint haired boy's eyes scanned his soul mates face. Taking in every curve, pore, and feature with a small smile. Staring into each others eyes, they sighed. "You're too much for me sometimes, did you know that?" Natsuo asked. Not waiting for an answer, he pushed his lips up to meet the other pair. Their heads tilting slightly to the side, so their noses didn't bump. It was gentle and innocent, like all of their kisses. Youji's hands still cupped Natsuo's face. Natsuo's hands rose to rest onto of the ones on his cheeks. Youji's hands escaped from under his though, so his fingers could trace over the contours of the red heads lips which fell open a tiny fraction. The rosy lips were gently moistened. The thin fingertips left his lips to trail along Natsuo's jaw line, and then traced a swirling pattern along the lobe and shell of Natsuo's right ear. In response, the redhead shivered. Youji grinned secretly in triumph. His fingertips left the delicate ear to drag down his throat, and revisited the contour line of the protruding collar bones he loved so dearly.

He felt the need to move further. Reaching up on himself, he bunched his shoulders and slipped his arms and torso out of the kimono he was wearing. The sash tied tightly kept it from falling off of his lower half. Natsuo's hands reached out greedily, marveling in the flawless skin that was Youji's. The redhead's good eye looked up at Youji's pleadingly. Chuckling, Youji's skilled hands slipped off the top of Natsuo's kimono faster than someone his age should have been able to. Pressing their chests together, Natsuo whispered. "Listen to them." They both paused to listen. Shakily their hearts were beating unevenly, but oddly enough they were in unison. They could feel it, the beating of one another's hearts on their chests. Suddenly, the passion exploded.

Youji pushed his mouth hungrily onto Natsuo's who responded with even more ferocity. Their lips moved wildly, with Natsuo's petite tongue finding it's way into Youji's mouth. Youji let out a groan from his throat, as they massaged each others tongues. Long arms wrapped around one another they tried pulling the other as close as possible. One of Youji's hands strayed to nestle itself deep into the hair on the back of Natsuo's head, his fingers scratching faintly at his scalp. Natsuo took a small and nervous step, using one hand to slide down the blue haired boy's back and firmly grab the flesh of his bottom through the kimono. Youji jumped, appreciating the extra attention. Both of his hands trailed to Natsuo's chest, finding his hardened pink nubs and teasing them. Natsuo's breath hitched, his breathing becoming faster and uneven. His lower stomach began tingling, and he felt a pooling of blood in a place he'd found embarrassing before. Although it didn't go unnoticed. Youji felt the same hardness, and out of instinct began grinding it onto the redheads. Letting out a catlike mewl Natsuo withdrew his tongue from the others mouth and managed to whisper, "please, please." Impatiently, one of his hands traveled to the most sacred of body parts they were grinding and without warning he grabbed Youji through his kimono. Youji gasped, and taking it as a cue Natsuo greedily pushed aside the cloth and grabbed him bare. The blue haired boy let out an almost yelp, "n-no, don't touch t-that..." immediately the redheads hand retreated and Youji pulled back. Both of their faces were flushed red and their lips were swollen from such rough kissing.

Natsuo's ears drooped down by his head in shame, "I'm sorry, I thought-"

"It's ok. I just don't want that just yet." Youji tried to sound as nice as he could, while trying to catch his breath.

"I understand, I'll wait as long as you want me to."

Youji exhaled in relief, with a small smile. "Thank you."

* * *

See I said nothing would happen :D And don't worry I haven't forgotten Soubi's little stunt. Until the next chapter mein shokolade bonbons! 

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER TEN - December 21st, 2007  
"Ritsuka, come with me." Without waiting for his answer she pulled him up by the hand, sneaking them through the doorway without being noticed which wasn't very hard at all. She pushed the both of them into the roomy hall closet, and shut the door.

"Why're we in the closet, Yuiko?" His mind was too buzzed from the sake to recognize this as a potentially dangerous situation.


	10. Come here, boy

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter ten: Come here, boy_

Disclaimer: Loveless is property of Yun Kouga. The song 'Come here, boy' is by Immogen Heap.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. Our little minors have a bit of a drink in this chapter, so if that bothers you then don't read. If you like missing major plot advances that is XD

* * *

Ritsuka didn't know what it was building inside of him. It felt almost like anger, but that wasn't quite right. Soubi had said those strange three words, 'I love you.' Not one month ago had Yuiko told him the same thing. Ever since he was young the cat boy was lead to believe those words were sacred, almost dirty. None the less he knew they were words that he as a geisha could not say. And normally an owner would enforce that ideal but there Soubi had been telling him those dirty words like he was saying something as simple as, 'good morning!' He had even gone so far as to kiss him, thinking about it subconsciously Ritsuka's finger tips rested on his lips remembering the feel of it. Soubi interrupted his thoughts with a soft chuckle. "I think I can guess pretty well what you're thinking about."

After the kiss Ritsuka hadn't said a word, continuing on to finish his food. Leaving the restaurant the two had gone walking, which is were they found themselves now. Ritsuka wasn't familiar with this area of the district, so he couldn't tell where they were. His fingers fell from his mouth when Soubi embarrassed him out of his thoughts. "Why would you say something like that?"

Soubi already knew what the young geisha meant. "Because I meant it, I do love you Ritsuka."

"Yeah and Yuiko said that too." Those words seemed to peek an interest in the twenty year old. Disguising it by casually pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose he asked, "and what did you tell her?"

"I told her I didn't know if I could say the same thing back. And it's just the same with you Soubi, I don't know if I can give that back to you. Do you even know what love is?"

Soubi laughed lightly, "don't forget that I'm older than you. Although I doubt Yuiko knew the depth to what she was saying."

Ritsuka's eyes darted over Soubi's head, to where his cat ears would have been. "Oh yeah, you don't have your ears anymore. I guess you would know then wouldn't you."

"I knew that anyway but loving someone and giving up your ears are two completely different things."

"They have to be related in some way right?" his young voice had somewhat of a tense sound to it. "You have to love someone to loose your ears to them!" A blush tinged his cheeks, this wasn't exactly the most appropriate topic of conversation.

"You can love them, but it isn't a rule. I myself did not." upon finishing the sentence he pulled out a fresh smoke, lit it and inhaled deeply.

A small silence seemed to widen the space between the two. Ritsuka's unsure voice broke through. "Why did you give them to that person then?"

"He wanted to take them, and so I let him."

That statement should have shocked Ritsuka, but a sudden wave of sleepiness hit him hard. He yawned deeply, they had been out for a few hours and normally he'd have been sleeping by now. Ritsuka had been fighting off the fatigue since dinner. Soubi took notice of this, and scooped the young teen into his arms.

"Soubi what are you doing? Put me down." Ritsuka's weak protest wasn't very convincing.

Wordlessly, the blonde man ghosted a kiss onto the cat boy's forehead. Almost like he had cast a spell, Ritsuka's eyelids became too much to hold up. "I'll carry you home so don't worry, just sleep for now my dear Ritsuka."

Mumbling an m-hm, he drifted off into the most peaceful sleep he'd had since he could remember.

He's even more adorable when he's fast asleep, Soubi thought. Trying his best not to wake Ritsuka he had made it back to the okiya and up the stairs to the geisha's room without him stirring, even through Kio's taunts and snickering. Now, the older man sat by Ritsuka as he lay in his futon fast asleep. Soubi did not smoke in this room, because even though he'd never heard it from him directly Soubi knew that Ritsuka hated the smell of that aromatic tobacco. If the younger boy wanted him to, Soubi knew there was nothing he could do but give smoking up completely. Hell, if Ritsuka wanted him to set himself on fire he would if it made him happy.

But now, enjoying the silence of the night sitting here by the sleeping form was enough for him. Even if the cat boy could never love him back it was the moments like this that healed Soubi's soul. Unfortunately that silence was broken by the thumps and muffled voices coming from the room next door. Curiously Soubi left the room and snuck a peak into the room beside Ritsuka's. That room belonged to Natsuo and Youji. When he looked in he couldn't help but giggle to himself as the two bare torsoed teens enjoyed a sweaty moment together before Youji shoved Natsuo away for one reason or another, it was too dark for Soubi to tell why. Shaking his head slowly he went back into Ritsuka's room. _At least Youji had enough self control to stop before they lost their ears_, he thought.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Two weeks had passed since Soubi 's love confession to Ritsuka. He hadn't spoken about it with either of them, or with anyone for that matter. As far as he could tell both confessors Soubi and Yuiko were acting like it had never happened. It made him a little sad, when it came to Soubi. Yuiko still caught his eye but whenever Soubi smiled it made him feel good inside. Early in the morning he would go into the kitchen to see what Kio and Yuiko were making for breakfast and Soubi would be there always, waiting for him. It was the morning routine. Ritsuka would come in and Soubi would say, "good morning, I hope you slept well." Ritsuka would assure him that he did and would then take his seat at the table. And while they waited for their meals Soubi would tell him about the stories from the newspaper, occasionally teaching him new kanji as they read the articles together.

Ritsuka liked reading and learning, and intellectual things in general. So this happening with Soubi every morning made him very happy. Around the older man his heart would seem at ease, like he had found his way home after being long lost. It was different however, once he donned the face of a geisha. His heart fluttered at every glance from the blonde and he worried over if he looked pretty, if his kimono complemented him or if his makeup was perfect. Every time the thought entered his mind - the thought of how Soubi made him feel - he shook it out of his head. Those feelings were out of the question.

Ritsuka sat in his room, doing his best to ignore the loud noises coming from the room below him. Strangely enough, that was a spare lounging room they hardly ever used. Trying to keep his mind on the novel Soubi had bought him recently, he blocked it out. Or at least he tried. Yuiko's loud laughter broke through.

What in the hell were they doing?

A knock on the door sounded. Ritsuka sighed, giving up on his book and closing it. "Who is it?"

Without any introduction Kio slid open the door, "we're having a party downstairs!"

"I can hear that! But what are you guys celebrating anyway?" Ritsuka hated it when people stated the obvious.

"Check it out, look out of your window!" he smiled brightly. Ritsuka opened his window and peered out. It was snowing! "No wonder I was so cold. What's so great about that though?"

Kio rolled his eyes, "it's the first snow of winter, so we wanted to celebrate. You should come down too! Soubi's there."

He blushed, "what does Soubi have to do with anything? I'll come though." His tail twitched in defeat.

The mop headed youth grinned toothily. "That's the spirit!" Roughly, Kio dragged Ritsuka by the wrist downstairs to the party.

The sight before him was priceless, Soubi and Yuiko watched Youji do a strange and quite frankly embarrassing dance. Ritsuka sat in the floor next to Natsuo and whispered to him, "is that the dance he did to try and make that kid stop crying?"

Natsuo's head tilted in Ritsuka's direction. With a giggle he nodded "yessit'is." The smell on his breath made it obvious, he was drinking. Ritsuka looked closely at the faces of everyone in the room, each of them either blushing or shouting at Youji in funny sounding slurs. Everyone had been drinking!

Kio clumsily stumbled over to Ritsuka handing him a full cup of sake. "Come on, join us!"

Ritsuka looked at the cup warily, in the alcoholic drink he saw his reflection. Something he'd come to dislike lately, the face of someone with uncontrollable feelings. Reluctantly he downed the whole cup. The liquid burned down his throat.

"Wow!" Kio shouted. "He drank the whole thing in one go, you must be thirsty. Here!" He poured the under aged teen another cup. With a little less reluctance Ritsuka drank that one too. He noticed Soubi staring at him from the corner of his vision, and for some reason ignored him completely. Youji finished his dance, stumbling forward and landing on top of Natsuo. The redhead growled, "you're drunk!"

Youji shook his head slowly. "N-I'mnot."

"Get offa me then!" Natsuo pushed Youji off. Meanwhile Kio had found Ritsuka's samisen and was trying his best to play. For the first time Ritsuka saw Soubi laugh, really _really_ hard. Snapping out of his lazy stupor, he felt a hand on his. Looking over he found himself staring into the face of Yuiko.

"Ritsuka, come with me." Without waiting for his answer she pulled him up by the hand, sneaking them through the doorway without being noticed which wasn't very hard at all. She pushed the both of them into the roomy hall closet, and shut the door.

"Why're we in the closet, Yuiko?" His mind was too buzzed from the sake to recognize this as a potentially dangerous situation.

"I can't take it anymore Ritsuka, I know you told me you couldn't say that you love me back but I love you a whole whole lot!"

Again with this love stuff, despite the influence of alcohol Ritsuka still had a distaste for it. "Yuiko you don't even know what love is, you still have your ears."

"Don't say that, I love you."

"Yuiko look I-" The cat boy's protest was cut off by the awkward pressure of Yuiko's lips against his. His eyes widened, only to see that hers were closed. He tried shoving her away, and then regretted the last few cups of sake he'd drank while watching Kio defile his Samisen. The alcohol pushing through his bloodstream seemed to have weakened his muscles and he lacked the strength to push the taller girl off of him, or was that his lack of willpower? Mumbling, "stoppit," didn't seem to help either. Yuiko's hands were wandering, taking in the newly developing muscles of his arms and chest. This was completely unlike the Yuiko he knew existed. Reminder to self, he noted. Never let Yuiko have alcohol.

With a previously unfounded confidence Yuiko pushed her tongue forward to glaze Ritsuka's lips. He gasped, absent mindedly allowing her tongue inside to dance with his. That action made him give up control entirely, his hands finding their way up to her full head of soft and delicate hair. Knotting his fingers in her hair, he massaged her scalp earning a pleased sigh from her. Suddenly he wanted more of a reaction out of her.

He loved the feeling of the other slippery wet muscle mingling with his, and that slightly metallic taste that was Yuiko. The heat between their bodies grew, when Ritsuka took the initiative to lay her on her back in the floor. He did his best not to look at her eyes during their short break from kissing. On his hands and knees on top of her, he barely noticed as his right knee slid it's way between her legs. Just how many cups of sake did he have again? He couldn't count. Yuiko pulled him by his collar down closer to her, and their lips met again.

Ritsuka took a daring step. His strangely steady hands dragged lightly down her throat, and over her shoulders. Sliding the kimono off of her shoulders, he had exposed her torso to the cold air. "R-Ritsuka!" Yuiko's eyes were wide, and the cat boy whispered a comforting "Shh." Again their tongues danced, the insides of their mouths enjoying the comforting warmth against the brisk air in the okiya.

Clack

What was that? Ritsuka wondered, his mind processing the new noise slowly.

The door had been opened.

That's what it was, he thought. Looking up lazily his heart stopped. His eyes stared up in to the piercing gaze that belonged to none other than Soubi. "S-Soubi!" Ritsuka jumped up, and Yuiko immediately fixed her kimono. Like he had just stepped into an icy cold bath a sobering feeling spread over the teen. "It's not, well um. Oh no ..." He tried his best to come up with an explanation. With no reply, Soubi turned his back to them to take a step to the side, standing against the wall next to the door. Yuiko darted around Ritsuka, and down the hallway to her room. Ritsuka slowly stepped out of the closet. In slow motion he looked up and over at Soubi, who did nothing but exhale a breath of smoke. "I'm sorry." He said simply. Tears gathered in his eyelids threatening to fall.

"I love you, Ritsuka."

He snapped. He couldn't take those three words anymore. "Liar!" He shouted. "You're a liar! Yuiko is too!"

Soubi somehow knew that it had been a cruel thing to say, strangely. Although he felt the need to be cruel. "By the looks of it, Yuiko loves you too. And you must love her a lot, too."

Those words tortured him, and his tears spilled over. "I hate you Soubi." He mumbled. Turning his back on the blonde Ritsuka threw open the front door and ran out into the snowy evening.

* * *

:x This chappy got posted a little early for people in other timezones (where I am it's been Friday the 21st for 34 minutes) so if that happened to you congrats :D

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER ELEVEN - January 4th, 2008  
"I'm sick of your complaining." Using a strength no one knew Kio had he grabbed Soubi's wrists and pinned them to the floor over his head. "So why don't you shut up." Throwing his weight over the blonde he straddled Soubi's hips, careful not to push any two certain organs together. Soubi's face drew in mild confusion, as Kio gently leaned over and kissed him.


	11. You can't catch me

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter eleven: You Can't Catch Me_

Disclaimer: Loveless is property of Yun Kouga.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. For the next few chapters time will move alot slower, about two days difference between two chapters at most. And if you were wondering, physical contact is plentiful in this story. 0:D

* * *

The next morning, Soubi read the newspaper in the kitchen as he always did. Kio was the only maid up and cooking this morning, as poor little Yuiko refused to leave her room. Whether or not it was her embarrassing position last night or a small hang over he didn't know and he didn't want to know. The fish the young adult was cooking burned a little bit and the resulting trail of smoke traveled over to tickle Soubi's nose. Ritsuka didn't approve of him smoking in the kitchen, but Soubi gave into the urge any way lighting up and blowing a smooth white puff of smoke that bounced off of the morning newsprint and rolled up to the ceiling, causing it to grey oh so slightly. Letting out a small groan Kio handed the plate of fish to Soubi, and stood there watching him with his hands on his hips. "Maybe it was a mistake taking in a teenaged girl. We're already overflowing with hormonal mid-pubescent boys as it is."

"The mistake wasn't taking in a teenaged girl, the mistake was getting four minors drunk." The two were talking about the scene Soubi had stumbled upon about twelve hours earlier. Kio had seen, forgotten and unnoticed standing in the party room doorway across the hall.

Kio pouted and looked away, "you act like it was all me handing out the sake, you encouraged them too."

"I have to admit I did after I had a few drinks myself. It was our mistake then. Besides you'd be pretty heart broken if Yuiko left." The blonde flipped a page in the newspaper, with an almost cocky smile. He knew that he was right.

"Hey don't put me in the same category as you. Yuiko would be a normal choice for men our age."

"Normal?"

"Ok then, your normal is thirteen year old kids like Ritsuka."

"Don't forget Yuiko is the same age too."

"Wrong! Her birthday was just last week she's fourteen now." When he finished the sentence he paled slightly. He was now staring into the eyes of a triumphant Soubi. "Not that that means she's my choice or anything! I'm just saying she had a birthday recently!"

"Why do you care about a bothersome teenaged girls birthday?"

Kio knew he was completely and utterly defeated. "Ok then. So where is your precious Ritsuka? Normally you would be reading to him right about now."

Silently, Soubi continued reading the newspaper. Or rather, moving his eyes around the page and thinking about the situation more so than actually reading. None the less, he ignored his good friends question.

"What are you mad at him or something?"

"He never came home last night." Soubi recounted.

"Are you sure? Maybe he snuck in while we were out of it and he's over-sleeping upstairs. Should I go check?" Kio's eyebrows pulled together in worry.

"Even if you did he's not in there."

"How can you be so sure?" Kio asked. As a subtle response, Soubi stared up at his lanky friend. At first Kio didn't get it, he was just confused. But then he looked closer at what Soubi was trying to show him. Deep bluish purple bags traced his lower eyelids, and his eyes were irritated. "You ... you stayed up all night waiting for him didn't you?"

Turning his eyes away and back to the morning paper he nodded slowly. "Thankfully though the snow stopped around the time he left. So wherever he is, I hope he isn't cold."

Trying to lighten the suddenly heavy mood, Kio forced a laugh. "I wouldn't worry, kids his age run away all the time. I ran away when I was younger too! I stayed hiding on a small road behind this teahouse, the owner liked me. He'll come back once he's hungry enough."

Unfortunately for Kio that reasoning didn't seem to help improve his friend's mood. He just nodded- an almost unnoticeable gesture- and went back to pretending to read the paper. "And so you're still upset," Kio sighed, twirling a lock of hair around his fingers in thought. He took a seat next to Soubi on the floor, sitting almost too close. Their hips were brushed together. "What is it that's got you so troubled? I haven't seen you like this in a while." His mind traveled back to the unpleasant memories of Soubi's depression, in the days before he met Ritsuka.

"I hate you Soubi." the words barely audible coming from the blonde.

"Ugh," Kio rolled his eyes. "I would say he's just like the other Aoyagi bastard if he wasn't such a good kid."

"They still said the same thing to me."

"Seimei meant it though. Ritsuka doesn't know what that means." The mop headed youth felt a familiar anger boiling in the pit of his chest.

"And the closet fiasco from last night?" A flash of strange emotion waved across the blonde's eyes, his eyebrows twitched slightly and Kio gritted his teeth. "I'm tired of your whining." Following a split second decision, Kio's closeness came in handy. Reaching out he forcefully pushed Soubi on to his back in the floor. He landed with a loud and painful sounding _thump!_ "I'm sick of your complaining." Using a strength no one knew Kio had he grabbed Soubi's wrists and pinned them to the floor over his head. "So why don't you shut up." Throwing his weight over the blonde he straddled Soubi's hips, careful not to push any two certain organs together.

Soubi's face drew in mild confusion, as Kio gently leaned over and captured the older mans lips with his. Taking advantage even more of the moment Kio's tongue reached out to glide over Soubi's bottom lip, then nibbled on it. Soubi did nothing but lay in the floor, no motion to stop his friend, no motion of opposition. After only a few seconds the surprisingly seme pulled away, but remained in his position sitting on Soubi's hips. He observed the older mans hair was spread out in a wavy ash blonde pattern that snaked across the floor, he hadn't noticed how long those locks had gotten.

"See? I just pushed myself against you like Ritsu and I'm sure some other men and women have. You're not in love with any of us now, are you?"

The blonde's eyes pushed downward minutely, but Kio had been friends with him long enough to know that was a sign he was thinking of something new.

"No not really. This is in relation to Ritsuka and Yuiko, correct?"

Kio reached down and poked his friend on the nose, a gesture which Soubi quickly shook off. "It sure is. Especially since they both were drinking last night do you think either of them knew what the hell they were doing?"

Slowly, Soubi shook his head. "No. I see your point now but can you please get off of me?"

Pouting, Kio stood and raised his hands to his hips again. "So please don't be so harsh on Ritsuka when he comes back." Pausing, he audibly shuddered. "I'm sticking up for that bastard's little brother, go figure."

"I've already noticed they're not very much alike. Seimei's heart isn't as pure." Even though the weight of Kio was gone, he remained laying in the floor and intertwined his fingers to rest over top his belly button.

"It used to be though, so let's hope Ritsuka takes a better path though." With that, Kio left the room closing the door behind him.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Yuiko? Yuuikooo." Kio cooed gently through her door. A feminine pout was all of the answer he got. "I know you're awake, are you feeling ok? Is there anything I can get you?"

Yuiko slid her door open gingerly, taking the utmost care not to make noise with it. "My head hurts..." Her feline ears drooped down, and her fluffy tail hung limp out of her tail bone. Her eyes traveled slowly from the floor to peer up into Kio's sympathetic eyes. Tears of frustration formed in her slitted Asian eyes, which seemed even more slitted at the time due to her current aversion to light and sound.

"Hey, hey now! None of that." Pulling a silk handkerchief from his pocket he gently dabbed at the corner of her eyes, absorbing her tears. His voice sank to a low whisper so her headache didn't flare up. "Come on over here." Putting his hand on the small of her back, he walked her back to her futon making her sit on it. He sat cross legged in front of her. "The first time I was hung over, someone else special did this for me." He smiled gently, while Yuiko looked hopeful for relief. Raising his hands, he barely placed his thumbs on to her temples, tracing forward in rolling circles. After about a minute, his thumbs moved to the inside corners of her thin eyebrows. Applying pressure this time he massaged the two spots in circles. Afterwards from the outer corner of her eyebrows his thumbs traveled upward a few inches to her top of her forehead and gently massaged again. Then finally, the upper center of her forehead where the body's top chakra point is located. When he was done Yuiko gently opened her eyes, and smiled.

"Feeling any better?" he asked quietly.

She nodded gingerly, fearing that if she moved her head too much it would start to hurt again. "Yes, I'm feeling much much better. Thank you Mr. Kio."

"Please don't call me mister, it makes me feel like an old man. Just call me Kio." Seeing the unsure look on her face he smiled and joked with her, "and if no one else is around you can call me K-kun."

She giggled, "okay K-kun. So uhm, is Mr. Soubi okay? He looked upset last night..." her face blushed with the memory.

"No one is upset." He lied, they still didn't know where Ritsuka was. "I talked with Soubi this morning and he understood."

Clapping her hands together she smiled, "that's good, I was so afraid he would kick me out of the okiya or be upset with Ritsuka."

Skipping the subject of Ritsuka, he apologized. "Nothing that happened could be blamed on either of you two. It was Soubi and mine's fault for getting you guys drunk."

"I think it's everyone's fault, we all accepted the sake without hesitation." Kio couldn't believe that came out of her mouth. Number one, it was just so cute and pure he couldn't stand it. And Number two, it showed a lot of responsibility he didn't think fourteen year old girls had. She stood suddenly, taking uneven and heavy steps towards her door. "I need to go apologize to Ritsuka for what I pushed him into last night."

"You cant he, uhm.."

She turned her face over her shoulder to look at him, "he?"

"He left go to pick up some things for me in the market, and I asked him for a lot so he won't be back until later today." While saying that he couldn't look her directly in the eye, he hated lying. Well at least, in situations like this.

"You mean because of me sleeping in Ritsuka had to go to the market in my place? Great," she pouted again, "Now I'll really have to apologize when he gets back."

"So don't worry about it until he gets back! In the mean time though, why don't you come to the kitchen and I'll make you a breakfast that's easy on your stomach." Food was the one thing Kio knew that would get her mind off of _anything_. And sure enough her ears perked straight back up, "if you really want to!"

Standing and joining her, Kio smiled. "I really do."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Hey mop head when's Ritsuka going to be back? It's almost night time, and unless you sent him to find a wild Iriomote cat or something he should have been back by now!" Youji's question was loud and annoying.

"Maybe I did send him to find an Iriomote cat." Kio ignored the obvious sarcasm on the boys voice.

"You mean Ritsuka isn't back yet?" Natsuo asked. From outside of the door Kio heard Yuiko spring to her feet. Since she couldn't be in the room while Kio and Soubi dressed the three boy geisha she waited outside of the door. Kio grimaced.

"Ritsuka isn't back yet?!" Yuiko screeched. "It's been all day!"

Soubi looked at Kio suspiciously from his usual seat beside the mirror. "Kio, what did you tell them about Ritsuka?"

He rubbed the back of his head in guilt with a sheepish smile. "I told them that I sent Ritsuka out to get a lot of things this morning."

Natsuo's keen mind picked it up first, "you lied!"

"I didn't lie!" His cheeks puffed out immaturely.

Soubi sighed, "well he did but only to keep the panic down."

Yuiko's voice sounded from her spot, "what panic? What happened to Ritsuka?"

Youji gave Kio a sly look, the kind that reads 'you got caught! Na na na!' while Natsuo stared at him more seriously, flicking a long maroon colored curl over his thin shoulder.

"Ritsuka ran away last night and has yet to return." Soubi said, very plainly. "The snow stopped when he left though, and he's well known in Gion now thanks to Natsuo and Youji so the chance of him being sheltered by someone is good." Silently, everyone in the room seemed to suddenly be fascinated with the floor. No one could stand to look up at one another in the face.

"While you two are out tonight, I'd like you to ask around. See if he's been seen. I'll contact a few patrons that I know personally. We'll all try our best to find him as quickly as possible."

In unison everyone nodded. Kio was surprised at the business like way Soubi was handling the apple of his eye being missing. Kio ushered the two geisha out of the door, turning back to say goodbye to Soubi. But when he did he found that Soubi, tired from being up all night waiting just in case Ritsuka came home, had laid on his side and fallen asleep. Although it was not a peaceful sleep. Putting a hand on the nearby Yuiko's shoulder he smiled the kindest smile he could muster. "I'm trusting you to see those two off tonight ok?"

Sniffling up her tears, Yuiko nodded and trotted off behind Youji and Natsuo dutifully. Turning his attention back to his older friend he pulled a spare futon out, and rolled Soubi on to it. "If Ritsuka means that much to you, I'll be the one to stay up for him tonight. Good night, Soubi"

The blonde didn't respond, and snuggled deeper into the futon.

* * *

Oh noes Ritsuka-kun is missing! I hope they find him soon . Please review! 

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER TWELVE - January 18th, 2007  
Soubi looked straight into Kio's eyes. The blonde had never looked so utterly broken. He blinked, then walked his way to the stairs. Although, his step was different. He was walking kind of funny. "Soubi? Did you hurt yourself or something?"

He was blatantly ignored. He watched as his seemingly injured friend gingerly made his way up the stairs and onto the second floor. Tripping over the last step he landed on his elbows with a _thud. "_Soubi!"


	12. Papillon échappé

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter twelve: Papillon échappé _

Disclaimer: Loveless is property of Yun Kouga.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. The title of this chapter papillon échappé is french for 'escaped butterfly.' I'm sorry this one is so much shorter than the others! TT  
Maiko - like a Jr. Geisha, the level before becoming a geisha  
'Ka-san - Japanese for "mother"  
Nippon - Japan  
Haorii - a kimono coat

* * *

"Hey you, wake up! What are you doing sleeping out here anyway?" Natsuo's fists were placed firmly on his slender hips and his lips formed a scowl when he kicked the sleeping Kio in the side. Kio had promised a slumbering Soubi he would stay up through the night incase Ritsuka returned home, and he did just that. Well, sort of. The youth had fallen asleep about an hour before sunrise, being too used to falling asleep early. Work around the okiya even though it didn't sound very difficult took a toll on the two maids. Kio more so than Yuiko.

Sure before he had became Soubi's maid the two would lounge around each other's okiya at all hours of the morning smoking and secretly looking at adult drawings they found here and there. Confiding in each other, experimenting with a lot of things they wouldn't dare bring back up now. It was a bit scandalous, at the time Soubi was an inexperienced Maiko(0) and Kio was just a normal friend that stopped by. No one knew that late at night Kio snuck into the okiya to be with his friend.

That is, until Soubi met Seimei. After that Kio only saw his older friend fawning over the wavy haired man, and then he left. When Seimei left, Soubi was never quite the same no matter how many jokes Kio told him or how many drinks he passed around. Ritsuka though, had drastically changed that and without even knowing.

"Eto, five more minutes ka-san."(1) Kio mumbled as he rolled over, getting more cozy with the small front doorstep.

"I'm not your mother, now get up off of the street and come inside!" Natsuo was being much less than patient this morning.

Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he rubbed his head. "Did Ritsuka come back? He didn't sneak past me did he?"

"No he's still missing, and Yuiko needs your help with the dishes."

He hopped up off of the street, brushing off his winter kimono and stepped inside. "Is Soubi awake yet?"

Natsuo looked down and away, "no he's still asleep. I went to check in Ritsuka's room this morning and he apparently slept in there."

"Wow, he slept in the Aoyagi brat's room? When I saw him last night he had fallen asleep in the dressing room."

"Aoyagi brat?" Natsuo's eyebrows pulled together in suspicion.

"Eh heh, don't worry that's just kind of an inside joke between me and Soubi. Uhm, anyway go and wake him up or he'll get a headache from sleeping too late."

Natsuo frowned and kicked over a nearby shoe. "I'm not his keeper why don't you wake him up?"

Kio scowled down at him. "Whatever, he'll wake up eventually." Rubbing the back of his head, he mumbled something about ungrateful brats and walked his way to the kitchen.

"Ohayou Yuiko!" he called cheerfully.

"Good morning to you too K-kun." She was taking great care not to drop the slippery dishes back into the sink and break them.

Great Kio mumbled to himself, _she remembered that nickname I let her use._ "Sorry for not coming in to help you earlier, I kind of fell asleep outside." he smiled sheepishly. 

"It's ok, Yuiko's got the job under control!" Playfully a soapy wet hand reached up out of the water into a triumphant fist.

Kio giggled, and as he walked by the table he caught the headline of this mornings newspaper.

Large snowstorm expected to blow through the region within the next few days, the following districts are heeded to take warning.

Kio's Asian slitted eyes glanced over the long lists of areas that they expect to be effected. Damn, one fourth of Nippon(2) is on this list! he thought. It must be one big storm. Shrugging it off he rolled up the sleeves of his kimono and picked up a dirty rice bowl. "Yuiko?"

"Yes?" she looked up at him smiling.

"When Ritsuka comes back, do you think you'll still love him?"

Looking down into the soapy water, she had a sad look on her face. "I'm not sure I can. Lately I've gotten this feeling that Ritsuka belongs with Mr. Soubi. Whenever Mr. Soubi looks at him, I see this overwhelming emotion in his eyes. Even Ritsuka acts different around him, trying to please him and he's always asking me if his hair is straight or if his kimono is in place. He worries a lot about his appearance when Mr. Soubi is in the room."

Kio hadn't known that about the younger Aoyagi brother, "the night Ritsuka ran away Soubi stayed awake all night, sitting on the front step waiting for him to come home."

Yuiko gasped, "really? He doesn't have a cold does he?"

Kio shook his head, that pure hearted side of Yuiko always got to him. "No no he's just fine, I'm sure he's pretty lonely without Ritsuka though."

That sad look came over the young girl again. Her dishwashing pace slowed and her mind seemed to be somewhere far away from their little okiya.

"Hey, I understand how you feel about Ritsuka. And incase it doesn't work out I'll always be waiting for you on the sidelines, does that sound okay?" Kio was really sticking his neck out on this one, and if Soubi ever found out he'd never live it down. But much to his relief the younger girl blushed and smiled softly, "it does. It sounds okay. Thank you very much, K-kun."

The older man shivered, "it's about that time of the year to take out the heavier blankets, isn't it Yuiko?"

She nodded, "yes it is."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Youji and Natsuo wondered about the streets of Gion, looking carefully into each alleyway that branched off of the roads and in to any other nooks they were able to spot. Natsuo shivered, and not two seconds later Youji's arms were around him. Despite their extra haori(3), the maroon haired geisha shivered. "Hey w-wasn't Soubi searching for Ritsuka with us?"

His sea foam haired counterpart nodded, "I think he went off to talk to some people he knows though. You know, to see if they've seen him. Hopefully one of them has been taking care of him..."

Natsuo nodded absent mindedly. They continued to walk their chilly path in silence, continuing to look for the third geisha in their little 'triple threat' pack Soubi owned. Youji and Natsuo had been spreading word of Ritsuka's absence around the various nightly visits they still did. Many patrons had become worried, but the two of them knew that the more people they told, that many more people would be searching for their friend. With the large number of people that knew he was missing, they were surprised no word of him had turned up. Trying to lighten the mood, Youji spoke up in his usual loud voice. "That Soubi sure is a weird man!"

"What do you mean by that?" his other half asked.

"Well I mean he's always doing things just to make Ritsuka happy. He took in three complete strangers off of the street just to make the guy smile!" Mustering up the best smirk he could he looked at Natsuo with a devilish hint in his eyes, "hey hey, do you think Soubi could be..."

"Could be ... ?"

"Could be a pervert?!"

Natsuo gasped and blushed. "I never thought of their relationship like that... but that's impossible Ritsuka still has his ears!"

Youji raised his hands in a ghostly manner, making a scary face. "Maybe he's trying to seduce him and that will all change!"

"I guess then I'm a pervert too." Natsuo pouted without realizing it. Youji immediately threw down is act, remembering that Natsuo had tried to take his own ears. "No no we're completely different. Besides, I was only playing."

Natsuo's pout turned into a small smile. "I know. I fooled you, you thought I was mad!" he giggled that mischievous giggle that Youji loved to hear.

"Yeah yeah, well whatever." Smiling, he wrapped an arm around his counterpart. "Now to find that pain in the ass Ritsuka."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Tadaima." Natsuo said glumly as he lazily pushed open the front door.

"Did you find him, did you find Ritsuka?" Yuiko's voice chirped as she happily bounded out of the storage closet, where she had been putting away the more warm weather type kimono.

Youji stepped in and kicked his shoes off, the corners of his lips tugged downward into a frown. "No sign of our star geisha anywhere."

Sighing, Yuiko bent into the floor fixing the shoes into a neat orderly pattern. "I hope someone is taking care of Ritsuka, it's getting very cold outside." She tried her best not to let her worry leak through her voice, although that didn't help very much.

"Has Soubi come back from searching?" Natsuo asked, he seemed to be the only one keeping his emotions under control in the room.

"Not yet, but dinner is waiting for the both of you in the kitchen." Politely she bowed. "I already ate so I won't be joining you tonight." Saying nothing else, she slumped back down the hallway to her room. The nearby kitchen door slid open, Kio's lithe body leaned against the frame. "You guys 'gonna eat or what?"

"Someone's in a bad mood." Youji scoffed.

"Wow you're a psychic kid, now go and eat." Kio ran his fingers roughly through this hair in frustration. Youji was about to protest, when Natsuo grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen shutting the door behind them. Taking out a cigarette and lighting it up Kio took a long drag. He didn't smoke nearly as much as Soubi, but it was at high tension times like this when he felt that he needed it. Whatever Ritsuka was thinking, he hoped the thought of coming back home popped into his mind soon. His friend just wasn't the same without him, much like he was with Seimei. _Ugh, Seimei_ Kio gritted his teeth.

The two had met during Soubi's limited days as a geisha. Seimei immediately took a liking to him, used him and then left. Soubi never fully understood that he'd been used. He always thought what he did for Seimei was out of love, but Kio knew better. It's a terrible feeling, watching your friend being used. Kio tried to make him realize that but Soubi would always stare back with an empathetic face, protesting with "he loves me." Sometimes, Kio thought Soubi _knew_ he was being abused and _enjoyed it_. What a masochist his friend was. Just as he finished thinking about him, said friend stumbled through the door.

Soubi looked straight into Kio's eyes. The blonde had never looked so utterly broken. He blinked, then walked his way to the stairs. Although, his step was different. He was walking kind of funny. "Soubi? Did you hurt yourself or something?"

He was blatantly ignored. He watched as his seemingly injured friend gingerly made his way up the stairs and onto the second floor. Tripping over the last step he landed on his elbows with a _thud. "_Soubi!" Kio called after him, rushing up the stairs. His friend grunted in reply, as Kio pulled him back up to his feet and pulled Soubi's arm over his shoulder for support. "What in the hell happened to you?" He asked, anger tingeing the under tones of his voice.

"I went ... to go see Ritsu."

Kio looked confused. "Did he beat you up or something?"

"It seems that Ritsu and Seimei have become good friends, he was there..."

Kio's face paled. "Exactly what happened?" He helped his friend get to his room and closed the door behind him.

"I asked for their assistance in finding Ritsuka." As he spoke, he shrugged out of his haori.  
"And they said they hadn't seen him but," he untied his obi and let his kimono fall off of his form, his back turned to his good friend.  
"In exchange for this they will tell me if they see him." Fresh yet shallow lines of blood criss-crossed over the naked blonde's back.  
"And I'm not allowed to tell Ritsuka that Seimei is his brother." A look of deep hurt ran across the man's face.

Kio gasped, staring in awe at what the men had done to Soubi's bare skin. "You just let them do that to you?" An age old anger rose in his voice.

"It is Ritsu's usual fee. Seimei wanted a little more though, I'm afraid." Soubi seemed pleased at that last fact.

"You let that bastard use your body again didn't you? And how are you going to deal with that when Ritsuka finds out?" His hands placed firmly on his hips, his eyes couldn't help but to glance over the bruised and scratched skin that reached down Soubi's back and to his buttocks.

"Ritsuka will not find out and ... what I did was in exchange for a higher chance of Ritsuka to return home safely." He closed his eyes, seemingly satisfied with justifying himself.

Kio took a few too loud steps forward, and grabbed Soubi's wrist harshly spinning him around. His hand connected to the blonde's cheek with a loud _smack! _Soubi's eyes shot open wide in confusion at his old friend. "You're supposed to be with Ritsuka. The next time you go off to Seimei just think about how he would feel about that! Seimei could never come close to actually caring about you like that kid does. I'm surprised you don't know that already."

"Maybe you're right, Kio." Soubi said with a sad smile. This wasn't the first time Kio had slapped him, it used to happen a lot when Soubi first lost his ears. Soubi had one night on a split second decision, lost his ears to his beloved Seimei. And it happened about two hours after Kio warned him about being used by the older Aoyagi.

"Do you know what Seimei said to me, after that first time?" The blonde asked.

Kio flinched, wondering if he should really ask. "What did he say to you?"

"I hate you Agatsuma Soubi, don't ever forget that."

* * *

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER THIRTEEN - February 1st, 2008  
Ritsuka raised his head slowly and shakily. His body shook with violent tremors, beneath the haori he wore. Soubi wondered where he got it but then shrugged off the thought, being glad he atleast had one. Large and slightly rounded eyes stared up at the older man and warm tears spilled over the brim of them down his face. 

"S-s-soubi?" his teeth chattered together.


	13. Snow Bunny

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter thirteen: Snow bunny_

Disclaimer: Loveless is property of Yun Kouga.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. This chapter is still in mid January, but the next will be early February I guess. Well atleast by the begining of the next chapter you'll definately be familiar with the flow of time again XD  
Itai - ouch!  
Iie - no

* * *

Gion was enshrouded by a thick veil of snow. All of the usually brightly colored teahouses, storefronts, and okiya were all blended into a boring dull white. Clumps of ice mixed with the dirt on the side of the streets, turning into a mucky brownish color. The clouds high above were swelling a dark grey promising that another load of newborn snow would fall soon. Soubi stood by the front door, his back leaning against the sturdy wooden frame. He pushed the smoke out of his lungs and let it mingle with the moist condensation of his breath on the cold air, before it disappeared into the atmosphere. His piercing eyes scanned the street before he pushed himself off of the doorframe and peered back inside, everyone was supposed to be ready by now.

"Are you all coming or do I have to brave the cold by myself?" He called into the empty front room. A few moments later Youji's voice echoed down the stairs from his room. "We're coming, we're coming! Geez, I hate being rushed." The blue haired boy grumbled loudly. Today when the household woke up to find their district coated in several inches of snow they decided it was time for a serious manhunt, and they had all agreed to go out and look at the same time. Kio and Yuiko were the first two to meet Soubi at the door, after they had finished cleaning off the breakfast dishes together.

Both of them looked tired and haggard, Kio's hair was it's usual mess but in his eyes you could see it all. All of the worry over Soubi's fresh scars, the touchy way he had to handle talking about Ritsuka around Yuiko and how much sleep he hadn't been getting lately. After all who could sleep when your best friend was a virtual zombie who never slept and spent all of his time sitting by the front door waiting for someone to come home? Yuiko had been having trouble getting to sleep as well, and deep down inside Kio knew that she had been suffering from guilt. She had drilled it into her own head that Ritsuka left because of her actions, which wasn't entirely wrong. But then again it wasn't entirely true.

Everyone's eyes turned to the stairway as two of the okiya's remaining geisha bounded down the stairs just as energetic as the pubescent boys they were. Lately their faces had both taken on a more masculine shapes, sharper lines and deeper angles. Natsuo's keen eyes glanced around everyone in the room, "the tension is rising isn't it?"

Stretching out his stomach and leaning backward slightly, Kio grunted. "Where have you been? This okiya has been nothing but a big bundle of tension since Ritsuka left."

Youji smiled, and tried to cheer them up in his own strange way. "Don't worry I'm sure he isn't frozen!"

Like the idea hadn't crossed her mind before, Yuiko's eyes popped open and her mouth dropped slightly. "There isn't a chance that he's frozen is there?!"

Inwardly Soubi winced, but no one else around him saw. "Of course there is a chance. But I don't think that would happen to a sweet boy like Ritsuka." He placed his hand comfortingly on Yuiko's head, between her usual two pigtails. "So let's not think about that okay?" He summoned a smile, something he hadn't been able to do since the cat boy left. Catching on Yuiko smiled too, and those two small gestures seemed to left a bit of the sadness off of everyone's backs.

"Yeah yeah positive mind and all that, let's get started. Youji, Soubi and I will take the western half of the district. Kio and Yuiko take the eastern side since it's smaller and your team has less people. Does that sound okay?" Natsuo directed. One would never guess but the teen actually had good leader skills. The group around him nodded in response, and both teams set off in their respective directions.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Youji's shoes crunched through the snowy streets, leaving another trail of footprints that walked alongside Natsuo's and Soubi's. They had been searching for about an hour now, and he didn't know about everyone else but the end of his nose was about to freeze right off. He was sure they were looking for Ritsuka. He was sure the little star had ran away. What he wasn't sure of was why the had geisha left and ran away in the middle of the night in the first place. It seemed that everyone but Natsuo and Youji knew why. _Did we miss something?_ Raising his arms so his hands could rest against the back of his head he decided to ask. "Hey Soubi, why did Ritsuka leave in the first place?"

Soubi stiffened, inhaling a new lungful of smoke so he could delay answering. After a brief moment of silence he looked over to the teen. "He ran away somewhere in-between me catching him doing something private and me telling him what he apparently didn't want to hear."

The blue haired boy scrunched up his nose. "Something private? That sounds nasty."

Natsuo knew Youji was playing around and that he had already guessed correctly about what Soubi caught Ritsuka doing. But for Soubi's sake he spoke up, "it's just as nasty as it is beautiful." The two exchanged a small smile. Soubi didn't speak up again for a long time, thankful that the two boys entertain themselves by having a conversation completely based on trying to say what the other was thinking. _It's almost like they're telepathic twins._ Soubi thought. Just one conversation like that could keep a teahouse room entertained for a good while. Well, it might scare off some of the more superstitious patrons but it would give everyone else a nice laugh.

"My turn, my turn!" Youji shouted. He stared long and hard into Natsuo's eyes, his face scrunched up pretending to strain. "Iriomote cats!"

"You're right again." Natsuo said with a smile.

"Hey, are you two still looking or are you playing?" Soubi interjected.

"We're looking and playing at the same time." They said in unison. Youji was about to say something when his body slammed into someone else's. "Ouch! Oh sorry about that I-" he looked up at the face of who he'd bumped into. His eyes stared back into cold obsidian ones, a girl he once knew with medium length black hair. "Koya?"

The geisha nodded to the two boys, her face remaining emotionless. "Natsuo, Youji. And who is this?" She asked, glancing over at Soubi.

"That's Soubi. He's our new owner." Natsuo said with a bright smile.

"I see. Well then I have to go, I'm-"

"wait!" Youji proclaimed. Koya looked confused at his outburst. "Have you seen Ritsuka around? He's a geisha, and a little bit shorter than us. Dark girly hair, pretty much looks like a girl?" At least he wasn't lying, Ritsuka was very feminine.

"Yes I know who Ritsuka is. I saw him this morning-"

Soubi's breath hitched in his throat.

"- I asked him what he was doing out in the snow but he wouldn't reply. Then he started walking off." She said.

Suddenly Soubi took charge of the situation, "Do you know where he was going? Or at least what direction he was going?"

Wordlessly, she pointed to a street that branched off to the side.

"Thank you very much, Koya. Natsuo and Youji both of you go home."

"You're going to go off and find him by yourself?" Youji complained. He wasn't going to admit it but he wanted to see Ritsuka soon too.

"If he went down that road, then I know where he is."

Natsuo's eyes narrowed at the older man. "Don't get lost in the snow, and bring him back safe okay?"

Soubi nodded warmly and with no further words the blonde bolted off down the street Koya had pointed to.

They watched him leave, and the two boys looked up at the popular geisha of their former okiya. "Bye bye Koya." Natsuo said with another smile.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Itai!" (1) Yuiko sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. Looking up at a lump of garbage at the corner of an alleyway with wide eyes, she sighed. Her eyebrows were pulled together in disappointment. "I thought it was Ritsuka..." she pouted.

Kio let out a laugh, "even if you do see Ritsuka don't jump and start running to him. If anything you'll scare him. And we don't want you tripping up in the snow again now do we?" he kneeled down in the moist white powder next to the cat girl, extending his hand out to her. "Are you okay? Nothing's broken is there?"

Yuiko's haggard eyes looked up into Kio's bright ones. _Since when did they become so ... warm?_ She thought. After a few moments of staring at him like an idiot she shook her head, giving a small laugh. "I'm just fine!" She put her hand in his and pulled herself into a sitting position. The icy touch of the snow didn't seem nearly as cold as it should have.

"I'll take a quick look just to make sure you didn't hurt it." Kio's hands young yet callous from a lifetime of maid work found their way to Yuiko's ankles. "Which one did you fall on?" he asked.

"That one." she pointed to it and twitched that leg.

"Hmm." Kio looked at it thoughtfully as his fingertips traced over her anklebone pushing here and prodding there. "What I'm doing doesn't hurt does it?"

She felt her blood rush up towards her face, filling in her cheeks. Why was she blushing. "Iie. (2) My ankle is just fine. Thank you, Kio."

"No problem, I'm glad you didn't hurt it stumbling over in the snow like a lost kitten." He stood up, running his fingers through his thick unusually colored hair.

Yuiko stood up too, only she tripped again. But this time instead of landing in the frigid powder she landed on something warmer, and quite softer. Kio's chest.

"Gomen ne! I tripped again, I'm too clumsy for my own good. That's why I'm not a geisha." She giggled nervously, but seemed quite content on staying pushed onto the older mans front side.

Kio noticed this, and on the inside he jumped for joy. "You're not clumsy, the road is very slippery right now because of the snow and ice. Don't degrade yourself like that." He paused, taking a look around the rounded and soft features of her face. "You're too cute for your own good. Especially when you look so helpless like that."

And Yuiko did look pretty helpless, staring up at Kio with all manners pushed aside. Her mouth hung open slightly and her eyes were wide not sure of what to do. "H-helpless?"

Kio laughed. "Okay well maybe not helpless." Without shame his hands which had been holding on to her arms supporting her, moved so that his arms could encircle her body, pulling her into a loose and comfortable hug. Her height making it so that the top of her head fit underneath of his chin and buried into the crook of his neck perfectly. Yuiko took a good breath of the mans scent, which smelled like cigarette smoke mingled in with sakura blossom. A strange mix, but she took it in all the same.

"You're not cold are you?" Kio asked.

"Not at all! I-"

"She looks pretty warm from where we're standing." Youji snickered. "Youji, you weren't supposed to say anything!" Natsuo playfully elbowed his counterpart. Kio and Yuiko jumped, Yuiko choosing to back up a good three feet. A mix of adrenaline and sudden fright pulsed through her veins, and her hands trembled as her fingers nervously picked at the collar of her haori. She could think of the most perfect thing to say at a time like this but the words failed to rise up out of her throat.

"What are you two doing here? Shouldn't you be on the other side of Gion searching for Ritsuka?" Kio could find more than enough words for Youji and Natsuo.

"Yeah, we should." Youji said plainly, kicking aside a clump of dirty ice.

"Then why aren't you?!" The poor man looked terribly flustered. His eyes darted around the street, narrowing in suspicion. "Soubi you can come out now, ha ha you got me whatever!" The maids fists came up to rest on his hips angrily.

"Soubi isn't here." Natsuo said with a smile, while twirling a wavy lock of hair with a thin pointer finger.

Kio looked straight at him in disbelief. "Did he get hurt? Why aren't you with him?"

Youji yawned and stretched, his young bones popping lightly. "We were coming over here to tell you about that but we thought it would be rude to disturb you." he snickered.

Kio's eyebrows which had bee pulled together before fell flat, "you did that anyway."

"Yes well," Natsuo began. "We bumped into Koya while we were looking for Ritsuka. She told us that she saw him walking down some street and Soubi told us to go back home and then ran off."

A large uncontained smile crossed Yuiko's lips as her fingertips laced together lightly. "So Mr. Soubi found him?" her tail waved excitedly.

"I guess so. He said for us to go home so all we can do is wait." Youji said.

Kio gave a large and annoyed sigh. "We're going back to the okiya then and Soubi will bring him back to us, okay?" he asked, looking mainly at Yuiko.

"Okay!" she chirped happily. Natsuo and Youji both sniggered to each other.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Soubi trudged down the frozen street. As the newspaper warned earlier that morning the snow had started up again. But Soubi kept heading forward, he knew where Ritsuka would be hiding. This was the road that led out of Gion. The lavish house Ritsu had bought him years ago was nestled alongside this road. The same house with the large garden that Ritsuka loved so much. He flipped the icy locks of hair out of his face, brushing out any bothersome snowflakes that would get it wet. Out in the snow wet equals freezing and no matter who you are that's never pleasant. The familiar home appeared out of the flurry white haze and Soubi's heart sped, his feet finding new speed and he pushed forward with re-ignited determination.

His feet pounded up the icy path to the garden. He was careful not to slip up, since the path had frozen over. The once beautiful and breathtaking garden had overgrown and withered from a combination of winter and having not been cared for in months. Pushing past the foliage that had grown outward messily into the walkway that snaked through the garden Soubi flashed back to the night he'd taken Ritsuka here. The air was just beginning to cool down from summer, but it was early enough in the autumn season to keep the vibrant colorings of summer. Finally he reached the familiar bridge. His eyes wandered to it's peak, seeing the balled up figure he was praying to see. Almost silently he crossed to the center of the bridge, kneeling before the figure.

"Ritsuka?"

It said nothing.

"Ritsuka?"

This time it trembled in response.

"I'm sorry. I'm apologizing to you, and I want you to come back. We all do. We've missed you very much."

Ritsuka raised his head slowly and shakily. His body shook with violent tremors brought on by the cold, beneath the haori he wore. Soubi wondered where he got it but then shrugged off the thought, being glad he at least had one. Large and slightly rounded eyes stared up at the older man and warm tears spilled over the brim of them down his face.

"S-s-soubi?" his teeth chattered together.

"It's me, I'm here." Soubi's arms pulled Ritsuka into a tight hug, and he heard a sharp sob escape from the boy. Ritsuka cried as he tried to hug the man back but he was shaking too much and his body was stiff. Scooping him up and holding him close, Soubi started on the walk back to the okiya. "You're okay now, I'm taking you back to your home where you belong."

Inside of his mind Ritsuka repeated the words to himself.

Home ... where I belong ...

* * *

Everyone in my house is getting sick . I hope I don't catch it. Stay happy and healthy minna!

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER FOURTEEN - February 15th, 2008  
Ritsuka had used an overly generous amount of soap in his hair, making it a sudsy mess that dripped down the back of his neck. Taking a finger he wiped off some, rubbing it into a line under his nose. "You want to rinse the hair of a man with a mustache???" He giggled.

Soubi chuckled and just stared at him for a while, finaly wiping off the soap mustache from Ristuka's face with his thumb. "Having a mustache doens't make you a man. And yes, I do." He grabbed Ritsuka's small shoulders gently and turned him to face away before he poured a full bucket of warm water over the teens head.


	14. Life: Part Two

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter fourteen: Life: Part Two_

Disclaimer: Loveless is property of Yun Kouga.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. I love writing this story so much, so review lots minna! I guess you could say this chapter is a bit of filler but it's good for Soubi's history etc.

Yukata - thinner kimono worn on hot days, the sleeves are tied up.

* * *

Mid February rolled around. It no longer snowed daily but that dreadful chill still hung around lightly in the crisp air. Spring hadn't come yet, but it was expected to come early this year. This made Ritsuka glad, since the spring and summer months were his favorite. Hot and sticky days meant ice cream and shaved ice, and lighter bedding and clothing. He loved wearing a yukata(1) , it was much easier to move in them versus the many layer of delicate kimono he wore while performing his duties as a geisha.

Speaking of those duties, he hadn't done his job in a long time. Not since going missing for several days about a month ago. When he came back he couldn't find the will to, and Soubi being the understanding man he is (towards Ritsuka anyway) told him, "Many patrons are worried about you Ritsuka. However I've told Natsuo and Youji to inform them of your safe return. For now life will move at your own pace and the decision of when to return to the world of geisha is completely up to you."

When Ritsuka heard that, he didn't know why but it brought him to tears. Soubi seemed to have that effect on him recently. Everything that came out of the man's mouth was so kind and caring that Ritsuka could feel his heart being warmed up. It felt good, especially since he used to believe his heart was nothing more than a useless hunk of ice in his chest. It wasn't supposed to be used, it wasn't becoming of him and it didn't earn his okiya any money at all.

So in the past month, the entire okiya had celebrated his birthday. It was only a few days after his return, and Kio was careful to lock away any sake that might fall into their hands, especially the increasingly needy hands of Youji and Natsuo. Thinking of the duo made Ritsuka shake his head, those two were becoming more like delinquents every day. But no matter how unruly and lazy they become in the privacy of the okiya when they went out on the town for the night they both put on the perfect mask of feminine mystery. Truly, he thought, they were professionals as geisha.

Both the cat boy and Yuiko had grown a shy distaste for alcohol. Not because it destroyed families or wealthy business men or anything like that, but their closet rendezvous had mentally scarred them. And of course the first thing Yuiko did when Ritsuka had returned home, after he could thaw out and eat something was apologize a few thousand times for 'what she'd done' and 'the mistakes she'd made.' But surprisingly enough he returned to find her much happier than she'd been since he'd met her.

But back to Soubi, who was sauntering into the young teen's room. No cigarette hung between his pink lips, making Ritsuka smile to himself.

"Why are you smiling? I didn't interrupt anything did I?" Soubi took a seat next to the cat boy, who was sitting by his window.

Ritsuka sighed a sigh. Not a bad one though, a peaceful one. He felt relief around the man. "No not at all! I was just thinking about starting up again with being a geisha. I just hope that I can return successfully, in a busy place like Gion I've probably been passed by and forgotten by everyone."

"That's not the truth at all, actually." Soubi's eyes slowly wandered to Ritsuka's face to take in the boy's face.

"Really?" Ritsuka's cat ears perked up a tiny bit, while his tail wiggled about excitedly.

Soubi smiled and chuckled lightly, something he didn't do everyday. "Natsuo and Youji have gone nearly crazy answering questions about you. A lot of your usual patrons want to know where you are, if you're in good health. Youji almost pulled out a lock of hair last week, I don't think he likes repeating himself."

"He would never pull out a lock of hair while entertaining, would he?" The teen asked.

"Of course not," he answered, "no matter how much of a strong personality he has here in the okiya both him and Natsuo are completely different while in a teahouse."

"I've noticed, it's amazing. I really envy both of them. It's hard sometimes to keep up a polite face, to keep up with all of the tricky talk. If you aren't up to date constantly you'll get left in the dark." Ritsuka ran one of his thin hands through his hair, grumbling a little while pulling his fingers through the knots roughly.

"Hey, stop that or you'll pull your hair out." Ritsuka couldn't tell if he was serious, since the mans face rarely changed from that peaceful yet sad and enigmatic look. "Here I'll get that knot out for you." Soubi gently untwisted the cat boy's fingers from his silky locks and gently began to untangle the one bothersome knot in the teen's hair. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't in the front of his hair, which he had let grow just below his collar bones. Strangely enough Ritsuka chose to keep the back relatively short.

"Ritsuka, why do you let the front grow so long? Well except your fringe. But these side locks," he idly twisted them around a pointer finger, "have grown much longer in the past six months." It was true, they hung about four inches lower than they used to.

"Well," Ritsuka began smiling shyly, "I'm a little envious of how long Youji and Natsuo's hair is. But I still like short hair, so I keep that short and the rest long."

"Natsuo has a good length for his body, although I think Youji's has grown a bit too long. It always gives hairdressers a hard time." Youji's hair had reached just past his bottom now. "But I didn't come in to talk about your hair, or Youji's. I want us to take a bath together."

The cat boy's eyes shot open, and his tail went bone straight. "W-what?! You pervert!"

"I'm not a pervert, I meant going to a public bath house together." Soubi didn't even look the least surprised that the cat boy had called him a pervert. In fact the blonde was expecting a more explosive reaction.

Ritsuka relaxed, but he still blushed and looked away to his fingers that were attempting to pick away at the floor. "Why would you want to do that, anyway?"

"It seemed like fun, and a good time for me to learn how I can understand you better."

There he went again, asking weird questions. But lately they didn't feel uncomfortable, Ritsuka soaked them in. They made him happy. He looked back up at the enigmatic man beside him. "If you really want to, I guess that will be fine." His lips turned into a hard line, "just don't pull at my tail, I hate that."

Soubi laughed softly, running his hand over the silky tail. "I wouldn't do that. Do people in the bath houses normally grab your tail?"

The cat boy's eyes closed with an angry scowl. "Natsuo and Youji."

Just those two names were explanation enough. "Hm, that isn't surprising. But I have some business I have to take care of soon. Will you go to the bath house with me later, Ritsuka?"

He sighed. He would never let Soubi know it, but on the inside this made the teen very happy. "I would love to."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Ritsuka giggled, and flipped the hair out of his eyes. It was in the early evening hours now, and he was kneeling down in front of his spicket in the bath house. Soubi was in incredibly high spirits, smiling and laughing more than he usually did.

"I haven't laughed this much since I was a Maiko." Soubi said with small smile. He was in front of his own spicket, hiding his modesty with a fuzzy white towel as was Ritsuka.

Said cat boy's eyes popped open, "_you_ were a Maiko?"

"And a geisha as well." he stated simply.

Ritsuka cupped his hands together, collecting water and splashing his face with it. "If you were a Maiko then naturally you became a geisha afterward but I had no idea Soubi, that you had that kind of a life."

"I certainly did, I looked very feminine until about the age of sixteen. Although my deep voice shattered the illusion once I hit fourteen."

"You look feminine now..." the cat boy muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing!" Ritsuka gave him a large and angelic smile.

"Anyway yes I used to be a geisha. I lived in a small okiya owned by a woman named Miya. By time I came into her okiya I was eight years old and she was in her late middle ages. For her age though, she was very beautiful. A former popular geisha of Gion."

"Was she anything like Mieko?" Ritsuka asked with curiosity.

Soubi paused to think, "from how you describe her no. She was a kind woman. At the time that I was a Maiko, when I was ten, she was such an air head that many nights I was able to sneak Kio in to my room."

That made Ritsuka blush. "You two weren't like Yamato and Koya or Natsuo and Youji were you?"

Soubi laughed, "not at all. And those boys are far more innocent than Yamato or Koya. Kio was a maid at the time in an okiya down the road. I met him while leaving a teahouse one night," he took a short pause, "I stepped out of the teahouse and looked over to see him peeking into the window of the room I had just danced in. He was shocked to see me behind him asking 'why are you looking in that window?'"

"So Kio has always been weird!" Ritsuka said a little too loudly, catching attention of a few people around him. "I knew it," he whispered.

"Maybe just a little bit. But like I said I used to sneak him into my room at night. That is when I started smoking, when I tried a cigarette from a pack he'd pick-pocketed from some rich man."

"Kio is a bad person."

Soubi shook his head slowly, "no not really. He's actually a very nice person, but he is also loud and outgoing by nature. May I rinse your hair, please?"

Ritsuka had used an overly generous amount of soap in his hair, making it a sudsy mess that dripped down the back of his neck. Taking a finger he wiped off some, rubbing it into a line under his nose. "You want to rinse the hair of an man with a mustache???" He giggled.

Soubi chuckled and just stared at him for a while, finally wiping off the soap mustache from Ristuka's face with his thumb. "Having a mustache doesn't make you a man. And yes, I do." He grabbed Ritsuka's small shoulders gently and turned him to face away before he poured a full bucket of warm water over the teens head.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Natsuo's eyes drifted from left to right at the two faces in front of him. Faces that stared back with popped open eyes, and mouths hung open in anticipation. The redhead grinned sadistically. Speaking in a cracked and slightly feminine voice he said, "...she couldn't turn around! Two big strong hands here wrapped around her neck and she couldn't breath. She was being strangled!"

Youji gasped and the two of them leaned forward, "by who by who?!"

"She tried to fight her way out of it but she was too weak. But suddenly he let her go and in her split second of freedom she looked around to see the menacing face of her evil murderer! As soon as she could see him his hands shot back and were around her neck. He was going to kill her!"

Ritsuka kept his voice to a hushed whisper. "Who's face is it?!"

"AND as she TOOK - her last attempt at a breath she saw ..."

"saw?"

"...saw..."

"Saw?!" Both boys shouted in unison.

Natsuo gripped the balled up kimono he wore yesterday between his fingers. "Saw Kio's ugly face bwarrrrgh!!" he screamed it and chucked the kimono at Ritsuka's face while laughing. Youji laughed and pointed at the dark haired cat boy as he fell onto his back.

Ritsuka peeled the kimono off of his face and threw it back over Natsuo's head. "That was a lousy ending, Natsuo! You can't tell horror stories!"

The red head giggled. "I seemed to have you two shaking," draping the kimono over himself he stood up with outstretched arms, like a ghost. "When she saw that ghost! Woooo!" he pretended to be a ghost and playfully slapped Ritsuka over the head.

"Hey ghosts can't slap people!" Youji said.

"Ghosts that are actually Natsuo can though." he said, smiling cutely at his other half.

The three geisha were having a sleep over. Yes, they live in the same okiya but sometimes Ritsuka would sleep in their room and they would stay up through the night telling stories and laughing. It's not that they were best friends, in fact the two made Ritsuka a little uneasy at times but they were still friends. And all the same, it was a fun time.

"So Ritsuka, why were you and Soubi gone earlier?" Youji asked.

The dark haired teen blushed. "We went somewhere together."

"No way!" Youji shouted sarcastically. "I knew that but where did you two go?"

"To a bath house. He suggested it..."

Silence. Natsuo and Youji began snickering and the red head spoke up, "hey hey I think Ritsuka gets credit for torturing Soubi."

Ritsuka's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "Torturing? What are you talking about?"

"You're stupid! You honestly don't know?" Youji said, making a small angry face. Ritsuka only looked more confused as he seemed to shrink under Youji's intimidating stare. "Soubi loves you!"

Ritsuka's faced blushed a deep crimson. Sure Soubi told him that all the time before he ran away but he never believed any of it. He was just saying that to make him stay in the okiya, so he could make more money. Right? That was the way things worked, wasn't it? "Why is everyone always saying weird things like that?" he mumbled to himself.

Natsuo and Youji both shook their heads. Natsuo smiled. "Hey, so who wants to play cards?"

* * *

Ok so I managed not to catch what my family had but I still developed my OWN sickness (severe abdominal pain) -- just my luck, but I'm better now! See you guys next time!!!  
  
PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER FIFTEEN - February 29th, 2008  
Sure Soubi noticed him now, but he felt when he put on the mask of a geisha that he could better attract the man's attention. He thought of himself dressed as a beautiful geisha, side by side with Soubi watching the cherry blossoms that would bloom in the next few months. The thought sent his heart into a flurry of heated beating, and all of his thoughts parted in his mind. _I want to be the one who is at his side._

_I love Agatsuma Soubi..._


	15. Blooming Rose of Thought

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter fifteen: Blooming Rose of Thought_

Disclaimer: Loveless is property of Yun Kouga.  
A/N: This is an original AU fic. This is the third chapter this month! Miraculously the starting date and release intervals I chose for the chapters of this story made it possible for me to publish three chapters this month. Consider February a good month then :3 I write this stuff MONTHS in advance (I'm writing this on Sept. 10, 2007) but that whole February thing wasn't something I planned o.o And I kind of like writing Ritsuka acting a bit more his age, do you guys like the way I portray him?

* * *

The okiya was quiet. Which is kind of strange, considering Soubi's okiya was rarely ever quiet. Most of the time it could be more accurately described as noisy, loud, busy but certainly not quiet. Of course there were the ever present sounds of Youji picking on Kio with Natsuo's commentary while the poor maid was trying to dress the two. It was early in the evening and they were getting ready for a night of entertaining. Since Ritsuka's absence from the geisha world he chose to sit next to Soubi by the mirror, the way the man did every night. Oddly enough Soubi hadn't spoken to the cat boy all day, and Ritsuka was getting worried. His eyes would dart up hoping to meet those piercing ones. Oh and by the way, Ritsuka had finally decided what color they were. In reality they were a light brownish-grey color, but he swore sometimes he could catch a glimmer of gold in them.

Ritsuka's cheeks blushed him out of thought when Soubi looked down at him and smiled with an overwhelming warmth. This was one of those times, when his eyes flashed golden. All Ritsuka could do in response was stare up in awe at the face of this man. A generous man, who had taken him away from his dead end life under Mieko and blown a fresh wind into his career. Finally he tore his eyes away, to watch Kio fiddle with some kanzashi in Natsuo's hair.

"These curls of yours are impossible to manage..." Kio mumbled to himself, frowning.

Ritsuka's dark hair bounced too and fro as he shook his head with a small smile, but that gesture went unnoticed while the maid and the geisha playfully bickered. When Natsuo complained he didn't mean it and Kio knew he was playing around, Youji however wanted to be a little more difficult. Sinking back into thoughts he noticed one kept popping up. It had been nagging at him for a week or so now. _Assume life as a geisha._ Already a thousand reasons to do so were pouring into his mind, but one stood out proud and tall amongst the rest. _I want Soubi to notice me. I want him to be happy for me._ Sure Soubi noticed him now, but he felt when he put on the mask of a geisha that he could better attract the man's attention. He thought of himself dressed as a beautiful geisha, side by side with Soubi watching the cherry blossoms that would bloom in the next few months. The thought sent his heart into a flurry of heated beating, and all of his thoughts parted in his mind. _I want to be the one who is at his side. _

I love Agatsuma Soubi...

What?! The cat boy mentally slapped himself. Tediously, that one little phrase kept popping up in his mind no matter how much he tried not to think about it. It was a little disturbing.

I really can't deny it though, can I?

Kio was still in the middle of preparing Natsuo and Youji for the night when abruptly Ritsuka stood, the floor creaking slightly under his light feet. Soubi and the others looked over at him, slightly confused. Ritsuka was trying to say the words on the edge of his lips, but on the outside to everyone else in the room he looked like he was just standing there. His pink lips pressed into a hard line before parting. "I've decided." His hands tightened into fists that hung stiffly by his sides. "Starting tomorrow night, I will resume my life as a geisha. I want to entertain again and I want to become better at it overall, much better." Silently on the floor beside him, Soubi's lips curled into an almost unnoticeable smile around his unlit cigarette. Soubi did that from time to time, in rooms where he wouldn't smoke for Ritsuka he settled for simply holding it in his mouth. Truth being, the man hadn't sat down and honestly smoked for a good few months now.

A mischievous glint ignited in Youji and Natsuo's eyes. The mint haired boy grinned wide, making him look a little like a fox. His redheaded counterpart spoke exactly what he had been thinking. "That includes us right? You want to be better than us?" A strange kind of joy seeped from the teen. "So it's almost like a competition?"

Ritsuka sighed quietly and rolled his eyes, "no I didn't mean it like that. I just want to be better at it, not better than you two." Flipping a lock of hair out of his face his eyes rested on the red head.

Natsuo's lips tugged into a frown, his eyebrows pulling together. "That's no fun. I thought we were going to have a contest..." His lower lip hung out in a playful pout. Ritsuka noticed that Youji's smile also fell, and he just looked bored now.

The dark haired cat boy's delicate hands unclenched so they could rest on his sharp hips. "I never knew you two were so competitive."

Natsuo seemed to ignore that comment and looked away in a pout. Youji's ears perked up and he smiled. "You're just afraid that we're better geisha than you are!"

Unintentionally, Ritsuka's left eye twitched oh so slightly and his tail gave one firm wave before settling back into its usually slow pattern. _Maybe if I become a better geisha than Natsuo and Youji combined, Soubi will notice me more. _Childishly his face frowned a little, but it didn't go unnoticed by Youji. A slender tanned finger pointed out at Ritsuka from Youji, who was laughing loudly. "It's true, it's true! You can see it as plain as day on your face Ritsuka."

Immediately the dark haired cat boy's arms crossed over his chest defensively, a blush reddened his cheeks and he was surprised at the words that flew out of his mouth before he knew he was even saying. "It is not! I could be better if I wanted to!" His initial blush grew worse as soon as the words left him, since everyone was now staring straight at him in surprise. "And I will be starting tomorrow." Ritsuka smiled like that had all been planned. "You can bet on it."

Kio settled the last kanzashi into Natsuo's curls. "You guys take life too seriously." He said, making a lazily sweeping hand gesture. "Have more fun and just live life!"

Soubi's eyes drifted to his friend and long time maid. "Kio, you don't take life seriously enough." as he spoke, the unlit cigarette in his mouth bounced up and down.

Kio laughed and scratched the back of his head, "well that may be true but I know a bad situation when I see one. But oh well, you guys are just kids anyway. Get moving or you two will be late!" he began pushing them out of the door despite their protests. Ritsuka's long fingers came up to cover his face in disbelief, really what just happened? Now he realized he was alone in the room with Soubi. Slowly his heart started pumping harder and faster, and he covered it with his hands fearing it was so loud that the older man could hear it.

The soft sound of footsteps reached his ears, and he felt the warmth of Soubi's hands on his shoulders. Ritsuka's fingers still hid his face and he was glad for it now, he was red, confused, and embarrassed. Not exactly the way he wanted Soubi to see him.

"Ritsuka?" the teen heard Soubi's deep and creamy voice say. A "mm..." escaped Ritsuka's pink lips only to be muffled by the hands over his face. It sounded about as happy as a prisoner of war. Does being your own prisoner count?

Soubi's large hands tightened slightly over Ritsuka's shoulders, thumbs rubbing softly and soothingly over the cotton kimono. The older man waited a moment before speaking again after he felt Ritsuka's shoulders relax somewhat. "Ritsuka?"

Ritsuka's cool voice seeped through his fingers. "Yes, what?" his voice sounded a little unsure of itself.

Soubi let his glasses slip down the bridge of his nose a few centimeters, so he was looking at Ritsuka with his own eyes despite that being nothing more than a blurry image to him. "It should be a crime for you to cover the beautiful face you were given, so would you please move your hands?"

Ritsuka parted his fingers so that only his eyes peeked out. Even so he couldn't bring himself to look directly into Soubi's eyes, especially now that his glasses weren't obscuring them. Without the glasses the older man's eyes were more piercing and haunting than usual. Definitely not easy to look into. So instead, Ritsuka settled for staring at the center of his chest. Normally this was one of the times Soubi would smile or chuckle, but he did not. His voice came out sounding serious but that undertone of warmth was still there. He was just trying to be stern. "Please, let me see that beautiful face of yours?" he asked. His voice barely above a whisper.

Ritsuka had no choice but to obey, so after a moment of hesitation his hands slid down from his face to hang loosely by his sides. His eyes couldn't choose what to look at, it's options seeming to be Soubi's chest, Soubi's face, his own hands, and a picture mounted on the wall just behind the man in front of him. For now, he settled for staring at the tatami mats on the floor. Silence ached in the six inches of space between them, and Ritsuka thought to himself. _What am I doing?_

"Ritsuka, please let me see your face." Soubi pleaded.

Slowly but surely the dark haired cat boy lifted his head up, his dark eyes meeting with Soubi's which currently glimmered almost golden. When he looked up a smile spread over Soubi's lips. "That's what I wanted to see. No matter what you will always remain beautiful, Ritsuka."

Ritsuka's heart exploded into a fury of heated beating, his dark eyes widening a fraction. A fierce blush rested across his cheekbones. Everything this man told him sent him into a flurry of emotions. Only Soubi held the authority to make him sad, make him happy, to make him feel out of this world. Ritsuka clung for dear life on the things he told him, every word becoming an addiction. Oh how he wished he could do that openly, to crash to his knees and beg this man in front of him to simply speak. Soubi cared, but Ritsuka wasn't sure of how much so he held himself back. Of course he thought of this man like the most elegant porcelain doll, it sat on the topmost shelf so everyone could see it but he didn't dare reach out to touch it. Fearing that he would knock the doll away and accident and break it, he obediently kept his hands to himself.

"Thank you very much, Soubi. Someone like me doesn't deserve such kind words from a man like yourself." Ritsuka stated. He'd regained a polite expression and his hands held each other demurely in his standing lap.

That earned a chuckle from the older man, "I think it's more of the other way around, you are far better renowned than I am at this point. But regardless of our statures we will always be equals when we're together-"

At the chuckle Ritsuka's heart fluttered. _Please, _he thought. _I want to hear that again, please. _He pleaded in his own mind.

"-don't you agree?" Soubi's rich voiced tickled the younger teen's ears.

Letting himself go he smiled, "I agree."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Dancing. Some people call it a sport, others consider it an art style. Whichever category it actually fell under, Ritsuka didn't know. He just knew he wasn't very good at it, and that's why he never danced or performed. So, why was he doing it now?_ Since when am I so easily drawn in to these things? _Ritsuka thought. It was the next night. For the first time in weeks Ritsuka had transformed himself back into the mysterious and charming creature he had been before he ran away that winter night. And now, he danced in front of a crowd of composed men. Composed men that shrunk themselves to mere onlookers like curious children every night by coming to these teahouses just to see the geisha. Also watching him was Natsuo, who sat politely with a mischievous smirk on his face. Youji kneeled behind Ritsuka, using his shamisen to accompany Ritsuka's dance.

One peach colored hand held onto his fan holding it flat and level, while the other hovered under it by a few inches palm up. The teen spun as the tempo of Youji's shamisen quickened. This was a song that had few words, it's story was mostly told through Ritsuka's actions. The story was one of his favorites to watch, a sad story about a young couple's doomed love. Although, he had never danced to it before he had seen it enough times to know all of the movements to it. First, the two meet. After that, they see each other more and more and their flicker of a love becomes a roaring fire. But it can never come to fruition, for he is the emperor's son and she is but a lowly chamber maid. Near the end of the story they are found making love and she is to be executed, while he's rushed into his already arranged marriage.

Ritsuka didn't think he could dance this well, and he still thought so towards the end of his performance. However, the audience watched on breathlessly as the wide-eyed geisha before them danced. Each sweeping move was dramatic, the way he held out his limbs as the son grieved for his lover was elegant. His arms and hands draped exotically like a weeping willow. The telling of the story was perfect, men watching that had yet to see this dance knew exactly what it was about. Finishing his performance Ritsuka smiled charmingly, and took a very small bow.

Viewers clapped politely as Ritsuka took his seat again. Natsuo had his arms folded and his face looked impressed. "I didn't know that you were such a great dancer, Ritsuka."

"It's true." Youji said after putting away his shamisen. "It's amazing." He complimented with a too sweet smile, Ritsuka knew he was probably going to be teased once they were tucked away inside the okiya.

"Arigatou, Youji." Ritsuka replied.

A new man spoke up, "it took my breath away." His voice was deep, yet his tone reminded Ritsuka of a dirty snake. Taking a good look at him he noticed this new man was dangerously thin, with short blackish brownish hair that tickled his midnight colored eyes.

"I've never seen you in the teahouses before, what might your name be sir?" Ritsuka asked with a smile.

A slick smile spread over his pale face. "Daisuke."

* * *

Don't worry, the next chapter will pick up straight after this one. Also as an added bonus, the next two chapters will have a special release interval of one week. I hope you liked chapter 15!  
PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER SIXTEEN - March 7th, 2008  
What happened next surprised Ritsuka. 

It happened without a sound.

It also happened without any form of warning at all.

In a split second his heart detonated into a frenzy of uneven beats. Was his heart in his throat? He couldn't tell. Actually he couldn't tell much at all, besides the sinking feeling in his stomach. Had all of his internal organs fallen? It felt like it. His mind was congested, his eyes bulging. Right now there were two things he was absolutely sure of. One, he wasn't alone. And two, he was being choked from behind.


	16. The Lion Roars

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
Chapter sixteen: The Lion Roars_

Disclaimer: Loveless is property of Yun Kouga.  
A/N: The name 'Daisuke' means roaring lion in Japanese, so I will sometimes refer to Daisuke as a lion. Ritsuka's name is written as 立夏 in kanji, translating roughly to the begining of summer/standing summer.  
Odori - Dance

* * *

A new man spoke up, "it took my breath away." His voice was deep, yet his tone reminded Ritsuka of a dirty snake. Taking a good look at him he noticed this new man was dangerously thin, with short blackish brownish hair that tickled his midnight colored eyes.

"I've never seen you in the teahouses before, what might your name be sir?" Ritsuka asked politely.

A slick smile spread over his pale face. "Daisuke."

"Daisuke, that name means roaring lion doesn't it?" Ritsuka tried to use a little bit of his knowledge to seem cunning. While he talked he reached over gently grabbing the sake bottle. While pouring the man sake Ritsuka held one sleeve of his kimono back slightly he exposed a little bit of wrist.

The new man shivered slightly as if his back was wet and a cool wind just blew over it. Youji's clever eyes caught it however, and he immediately because suspicious of Daisuke. But the blissfully unaware Ritsuka never noticed it. With the slightest movement of his hand the peach wrist disappeared behind his pink and baby blue kimono. Daisuke swallowed hard, and smiled nervously. "Yes it does. You must be a very smart boy, Ritsuka." The lion's ebony eyes fixated themselves on Ritsuka, but not his face.

"Please sir I am not worthy of being called smart. I don't think that is a quality I have retained over the years, the only thing left in my mind is how to dance and entertain." Ritsuka joked. A few of the men around him chuckled. Daisuke laughed nervously and used his frail bony fingers to push a lock of hair from his vision. Natsuo looked up from chatting with another man and said, "Ritsuka will grow to be better geisha than we will Youji, with a mind only for dancing and entertaining."

Youji chuckled politely, trying to take the subject off of their dark haired friend. "Maybe so. But I've heard that the new lead dancer in the Cherry Blossom Dances is a girl named Odo-chan?"

"Well Odo-chan is just a nickname, actually from the word Odori!(1)" Answered an elderly man across the table. Youji blushed (unnoticeable through the makeup) as the men around him laughed but it was all good natured. A demure hand rose to the aqua haired boy's cheek as he pretended to be embarrassed, when he really didn't care. He was just glad the focus was off of Ritsuka. "If her nickname came from the word dance she must be well respected then." Youji stated, though he meant it to be more of a question. His skill was slipping now-a-days.

Daisuke was frowning, for one reason or another. This had become a full room discussion, most of them telling Youji more things about Odo-chan. The lion didn't know who Odo-chan was, and he really didn't care. His eyes rested on the side of innocent Ritsuka's head, as his attention was turned to the conversation going around the room. Very impolitely Daisuke rested his elbows on the table, leaning on them. "Ritsuka? Do you know Odo-chan?" he asked quietly. This wasn't a conversation for the entire room.

Ritsuka's big wondrous eyes turned to the man beside him. "Me? Oh no, I've never met her before." he smiled, "she must be amazing though."

Daisuke's strange grin was back again, but it seemed to only work on one side of his face. His body must have been concentrating more on fidgeting his fingers, which they were. "I bet she isn't a better dancer than ... than you are." Crooked teeth shined when he smiled, hoping to make up for his stuttering.

Ritsuka smiled weakly, _he must be a new to our world. I should help him out a little_ Ritsuka though. "Thank you very much Mr. Daisuke. Would you like another cup of sake?" he asked. Ritsuka was seeming more refined through the evening hours, more graceful than he had ever been. One half of it was the playful jeering of Youji and Natsuo, the other half of it was his desire to please Soubi.

The lion jumped slightly, "yes please!" Eagerly he pushed his cup into the geisha's reach. Ritsuka again held his sleeve back to pour Daisuke sake. The young man's hands trembled in his lap as he watched. Youji's eyes caught every move, thanks to his feline tendencies. Now he was _extremely_ suspicious of this new man. Being nervous around geisha was to be expected of a new comer, yet this man took it to a whole new level.

Taking all of the sake in to his mouth and swallowing it in one giant gulp Daisuke seemed to calm down a little bit. The alcohol was working at his nerves and slowing him down oh so slightly. "Is Ritsuka your real name?" he asked.

Painted lips smiled back. "Yes it is, I never changed my name when I became a Maiko."

Daisuke flipped the hair out of his eyes again. "That's really interesting. Ri tsu ka ..." he let the syllables roll of his tongue as if he were thinking deeply about them. "Ritsuka, you do not seem like a summer person."

In surprise the dark haired geisha smiled. "Actually the summer is my favorite season, along with spring. There are so many fun things to do in the warm parts of the year." he said. The connection of his name and favorite seasons were coincidental, although he was born in winter. With a glance of his slitted eyes he spied the wall clock. It was nine o'clock PM. His painted lips turned downwards in to an invisible frown. Time had seemed so slip away from him that evening. Soubi had asked him to return home about that time so he didn't overwork himself for a first night back. How handsome Mr. Agatsuma had looked, leaning in the doorway telling him about his curfew. His face lit by only the lights from other buildings on the street gave him an even more mysterious air.

Ritsuka realized he had been spacing out thinking of the man, and when he came back Daisuke was staring at him with hard set eyes. "Oh! I'm sorry. I got caught up in thought for a moment." Slowly he rose to a standing position, while discreetly smoothing out accidental creases in his kimono. "Gomen nassai everyone, but I'm afraid it is time for me to leave for tonight. I trust I will see you all again sometime very soon?" Ritsuka asked in a sweet voice, with a charming smile. The dark haired cat boy did not see it, but beside his feet Daisuke jumped slightly for the third time that night. He also didn't see that the lion was staring up at him with pleading eyes. Unfortunately Youji didn't see it either, as he was too busy pouring a drink for a patron he was talking to. A few of the patrons in the room smiled towards Ritsuka. "We will see you again very soon!" One elderly one said to him.

Ritsuka bowed with that stellar geisha smile, and turned. He walked (almost floated, really) out of the room and to the front room of the teahouse. Sliding on his geta he paused to turn to a woman working in the teahouse. "Thank you very much for letting me entertain here tonight." It was a habit for him to do so.

The woman, looking to be in her thirties smiled at him. "No need to thank me, I should thank you! You bring good business to the tea house. Please send my gratitude to Mr. Agatsuma will you?"

Ritsuka smiled because he had to, but on the inside he was a little shocked that she knew he belonged to Soubi. Of course a few people knew, but he thought his changing of owners would go less noticeably. He had told only a few people, but it probably leaked out through Natsuo and Youji during idle conversation with patrons. Or maybe it had been Soubi himself, he didn't know. But it was okay, Soubi was a very desirable man to the women of Gion. He had seen that enough with his own two young eyes. Belonging to Soubi was like a badge of honor he wore, that said _I belong to him and you are just some woman. Don't you wish you knew him like this?_ Although Ritsuka was always too modest to say things like that out loud.

Snapping out of it he responded, "I will!" and with that he left.

It was an eerily quiet night for the streets of Gion. The quiet clacking of his wooden geta against the ground seemed to be the loudest sound Ritsuka could hear. It echoed off of the streets and reverberated around the buildings. Being as he hardly ever got a quiet moment like this, Ritsuka sank back in to his thoughts. His life had changed rapidly over the course of the past nine months. He went from being a cheap and unknown geisha leading a lonely life like the rest of them were, and then he met Soubi. Mr. Agatsuma had bought him and gave him a better life, and through Natsuo and Youji he grew to become more skilled in his career. Yuiko helped him understand himself better, surprisingly. And Kio ... well Kio was Kio.

As it had been doing more frequently lately, Ritsuka's mind wandered to Soubi. His face turned a shade of light pink although you couldn't see it under the thick layers of white makeup. It did get hotter, however. The gentle breeze that snuck around the buildings of Gion caressed his face, cooling the blush. Breezy winds snuck around to the back of his neck and despite the comfortable temperature he shivered. Following the unseasonable shiver of course came a sneeze. _Someone must be talking about me, _Ritsuka thought._ Or maybe a ghost of a family member is following me or something._ Trying not to think too much about it he shrugged it off.

Tilting his head back, the kanzashi in his hair jingled. Staring up at the starless sky he wondered, _why aren't there any stars out tonight?_ _Oh well. _Ritsuka was thankful that he didn't have too far of a walk to take on that night. Soubi had made sure to send him to a nearby teahouse, so he was closer to the okiya. Ritsuka smiled absent mindedly. His owner was almost acting like a worried parent, and Ritsuka himself was worried that Soubi would see him as a son or a profit more so than ... well anyway. And now with the okiya in sight he let out a long sigh of relief.

Reaching it he opened the door to see Kio in all of his hyper glory. "Welcome home kid!" he almost shouted with a large grin.

"Ahh," Ritsuka hadn't been expecting Kio's good mood. He had seemed a little mopey lately, at least up until now. "Thank you, it's nice to be back." The door closed behind him and he slid off his geta. Before he could finish that though Kio was already talking to him. "Enchant a lot of men on your first night back hm? How did your little contest against Natsuo and Youji go?"

The younger one chuckled. "I don't know about enchanting men, I'm sure I gave a few of them a bit too much sake though. And those two made me dance." Ritsuka finished with a frown, when talking about the contest.

"That's great! I'm sure your popularity will rise even more if you dance more often." Kio said.

"I don't know about that. I was pretty terrible." Ritsuka gave the maid a small smile and then yawned. "I think I'm going to retire to my room for right now. I'll see you later, okay Kio?"

"Sure. Go relax! You deserve it." Kio said, his words bumping into each other from him talking to fast. Before Ritsuka could really blink, the maid had bounded down the hallway and in to the kitchen. _I wonder what he was so giddy about?_ Ritsuka thought. Almost all of the way up the stairs, he thought he heard the front door open. "Natsuo? Youji?" he called out down the stairway. No answer. The cat boy shrugged it off and continued up the stairs to his room. It was the first door on the left, and he walked inside leaving the door open by about an inch. For a small time he stood in the middle of the room, thinking about all of the things he had done that night. He'd danced publicly for the first time, and hopefully persuaded a few patrons to like him more.

What happened next surprised Ritsuka.

It happened without a sound.

It also happened without any form of warning at all.

In a split second his heart detonated into a frenzy of uneven beats. Was his heart in his throat? He couldn't tell. Actually he couldn't tell much at all, besides the sinking feeling in his stomach. Had all of his internal organs fallen? It felt like it. His mind was congested, his eyes bulging. Right now there were two things he was absolutely sure of. One, he wasn't alone. And two, he was being choked from behind. He coughed out, trying to breath in but it wasn't working. Small peach colored hands reached up and tried to pull away the hands that clutched around his throat in vain.

A million thoughts raced through his head. But in the moment they all blended together, into a searing white hot ball of shock in his mind. Suddenly the hands unclamped from his neck and pushed him forward. With a loud _thud_ his front side landed harshly on the tatami floor, gasping for air. Before whoever choked him got the chance, Ritsuka pushed himself up on his elbows and turned to the face of his strangler.

"D-Daisuke?! What are you doing?!" Ritsuka attempted to shout. But no matter how hard he tried it came out as nothing more than a squeak.

The lion's dark, hard eyes stared back angrily into the geisha's. "I want what I see and I get what I want. That means you, my summer flower."

In defense Ritsuka tried crossing his arms in front of him, but with a shocking quickness and speed Daisuke pounced forward grabbing the teen's thin wrists. Forcing them above his head he grounded the wrists painfully into the floor. "That was so cute, but your as defenseless as a new born fawn. And I am the predator." Ritsuka froze, it was all that came to his mind. Not two seconds ago he had been standing alone peacefully taking in his success. But now here he was, on the floor beneath a man he had met just that night. All thought left his mind, Daisuke was squeezing his wrists too tight while also grinding them into the hard and uneven tatami floor. But then the pressure from his left wrist was gone. When did that happen?

The piercing chill of the night air in the okiya shot through his shoulders and chest. Daisuke had used one hand to forcefully pull open the top of his kimono, thankfully his obi was too tight for the rest to come undone. Before he could react his left wrist was being clutched again. Without warning a searing pain shot through his shoulder, a little bit up on to his neck. Daisuke was biting into the side of the base of his neck, and his teeth were unusually sharp. Finally a signal came through in his brain and he let out an ear piercing cry. Although he couldn't tell how long he was screaming, he was sure it was loud enough to hear two buildings away.

The next few moments passed in a blur, so that he wasn't sure what happened. A loud clack resounded through the room as the door was forced open. It sounded like it had been opened so fast that whoever opened it broke it. All of the pain was gone including the weight on his chest that was Daisuke. Slowly he unclenched his eyes, everything in the room were mere blurry objects obscured by tears. Someone was around him, a more gentle someone. Lazily his eyes turned to the two struggling figures in the doorway. Kio was restraining Daisuke, before plucking a nearby lamp off of the wall using it to knock the lion silly. In the next few seconds Ritsuka blinked and the two struggling figures were gone, but more sounds of a struggle came from the stairway. Kio was fending off Daisuke trying to contain him.

When had he begun to shake so violently? Strong arms encircled his body in an attempt to stop his quaking. A familiar voice reached his ears. "Shh, Ritsuka. It's okay, he's gone you don't have to worry about him anymore. I'm here for you, please Ritsuka come back to me."

It was Soubi.

Slowly and shakily the geisha's head turned to his owner. "S-soubi?" his voice was uneven. His eyes met with Soubi's which were widened with worry. "Soubi. Soubi!" A wretched sob rose out of Ritsuka's throat. Wrapping his arms around Soubi's waist he buried his face into the warm neck. Clear tears soaked into the flesh that smelled of musk and smoke. "Soubi, Soubi, Soubi!"

"Yes it's me, I'm here you don't have to worry anymore." he cooed.

Ritsuka seemed to calm down, and cried fresh tears of relief instead of fear. "I thought I was going to die."

"I would die before you would, Ritsuka. I will always save you."

"Thank you, thank you."

And the rest of that evening Ritsuka spent curled in Soubi's arms, thanking god for being alive.

* * *

So you may wonder why this chapter and the next chapter have special release intervals? Well that's because, (dun dun dunnn) chapter 17 of The Color of Chinese Bellflowers will be the **_last_** chapter. But don't worry, I will make it extra nice for all of you! 

PREVIEW FOR THE LAST CHAPTER - March 14th, 2008  
Ritsuka's hands flew up to his chest, clawing it it to contain the heart which was betraying him. "I said be quiet."

"You're scared, Ritsuka. I can see you trembling even in the darkness of night."

It was true, the geisha was trembling terribley. "Shut up, Soubi!"


	17. The Last Chapter

_The Color of Chinese Bellflowers  
**The last chapter**_

* * *

Ritsuka lay on his back in the okay's courtyard. Since his owner knew about his love for nature and the outdoors, Soubi had made absolutely sure that their courtyard was large and breathtaking. It was, really. The entire floor of it was carpeted with lush emerald grasses which currently tickled at the back of Ritsuka's neck. Soubi also made sure to give it that hard cut structure of a traditional Japanese garden that Ritsuka loved so much. The courtyard was almost modeled after Soubi's former garden, but yet since it had much less space there were no pathways or bridges. A few Irohakaede or Japanese Maple trees sprinkled around the edges of the grassy space, the dark haired teen loved those trees the most in the fall when their leaves took on a deep crimson shade.

A gentle breeze licked at the teen's face, forearms, hands and feet, all of the areas that were exposed to the night air. Large rounded orbs peered up at the night sky. Ritsuka always thought his eyes looked more like a westerners than that of an Asians. The sky half obscured by trees and roofs of the buildings around the okiya was a deep shade of navy. Beacons of stars lazily dripped and splattered on to the canvas of the night sky were outshined by the full moon that lit up the courtyard as if it were day. Despite the breathtaking scenes above and around him, Ritsuka had not a single thought in his mind. Instead he drifted into a peaceful trance lulled on by the stars. No thought reached his mind and no sound reached his ears.

Until this sound. "The grass is wet you know and it is chilly out, you will catch a cold if you aren't careful."

It was the familiarly comforting voice of Soubi. "I'm being careful. And besides look," Ritsuka rubbed one hand gently on the grass then held it up so the other man could see it. "The rain from yesterday is all dried up."

Agatsuma smiled softly in defeat, "okay okay. There's no need to convince me." His socked feet padded over to the teen, who looked over. "Soubi?"

"Yes?"

"You wear your socks even in a place like the courtyard?" Ritsuka wriggled his free toes. "Feet were made to feel grass between your toes."

His brows furrowed, but Soubi's smile didn't die down. "I thought that was sand?"

"Sand is fine too, I guess. But I like grass just as well."

Soubi chuckled, taking a seat in the grass next to Ritsuka. Unlike the younger one he didn't lay down, he just leaned back on his hands. "Ritsuka?"

Wide eyes wandered over to Soubi's face. "What is it?"

"I need to ... talk to you about something." His face was serious.

Ritsuka sat up and turned to the man, crossing his legs in a lazy indian style. "Fine with me. What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about us."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Yuiko giggled. Her large sparkling eyes rested on Kio's. The older maids hands were holding open one of Yuiko's. A long finger grazed over the lines on her palm. "Ahh I can see your future in the palm of your hand Yuiko! Did you know I could do things like that?"

"Wow! Really? I think Kio's lying." She said. That large smile not ever leaving her face.

"Lying?" he repeated, his face falling into a teasing pout. "Oh yeah well I'll show you." Pausing he stared long and hard at her palm, eyes tracing over the lines and the patterns they made. "Here look, this line means you will grow up someday!"

Her brows furrowed. "I'm growing right now though, that isn't my future!"

"Growing isn't your future? It hasn't happened yet you know."

Yuiko couldn't think of anything to retort with. Her mouth opened, but then closed again. Apparently whatever thought she had before flew away over the rainbow. Over the past two months Kio and Yuiko had grown much closer. Since they were the maids of the house they had to spend a lot of time together working as a team to get various jobs done. At first Yuiko found it strange, she was used to having to clean up on her own while the other maids worked alone on their own projects. But when Kio rolled up his sleeves and smiled at her that one day she decided what used to be wasn't important. Unexpectedly her feelings for Ritsuka faded, she realized he was more of a great friend than man material.

"Hello? Earth to Yui-chan? Who's in that head of yours? It certainly isn't Yuiko right now!" Kio playfully knocked on the girls forehead like it was someone's front door.

This snapped her out of it. A pink blush tinted her cheeks, "I'm sorry! But Kio, anyone could guess that I would grow. I'm supposed to! You can't foretell something that is supposed to happen!"

"Shh." Kio silenced her with a soft kiss on the lips. Yuiko kept herself from smiling into it, and closed her eyes. His hands were on either side of her face, managing to pull her closer.

"Uwahh! Kio's a pervert! Kissing on a girl that is so much younger than he is, gross!" Youji shouted a bit too loudly.

"Youji!" Natsuo exclaimed, grabbing his counterparts hands and pulling him closer. "You interrupted them, that wasn't nice." His eyes bore into the others, with a slight smile that graced his features.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Skillfully Youji intertwined their fingers, and turned to look at the couple sitting in the floor.

Yuiko had her hands over her face, hiding the intense redness in her cheeks. Kio's eyes were closed in a grimace, his face turned slowly towards the infamous duo. "You know you guys," his eyes opened to stare at them, "you really shouldn't -"

Dead silence.

"Kio?" Yuiko pulled her face out of her hands to look up at her koibito, who was gawking at the two boys. She turned her eyes to them. What was he staring at? Natsuo still wore an eye patch, Youji's face was twisted in to a smirk like it was most of the time. Her eyes wandered still upward.

"WHEN ... HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" Kio exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and running up to the two. His large hand ran over the space above their heads. "You're ears! Their gone!"

Youji's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Oh Kio doesn't know how to loose ears? He must have been drunk when he lost his. You see when two people really like each other..."

"I know how people loose their ears, damnit!" Kio haphazardly smacked Youji on the back of the head.

Natsuo was laughing, "maybe you should think twice about leaving us in the okiya alone, when you take everyone out for dinner next time."

Kio's face dropped.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"About us?" Ritsuka repeated. Trying his best he wrinkled his nose up, only to have one of Soubi's fingers reach out and trace over it. "Don't do that," the older one said. "You will wrinkle up your pretty face."

Ritsuka sighed, his act wasn't very convincing. "Why would you want to talk about something like that?" Hugging his knees to his chest he took his eyes off of the older man to stare up at the rounded moon.

"A soul can not sit comfortably when it is caged, Ritsuka." Reaching out he pulled Ritsuka's knees away from his chest. It made the boy feel exposed, how did Soubi know that he would do that if he wanted to keep something inside of himself?

"We humans are as the stars are, flickering brightly. But for how long can we flicker before we extinguish ourselves?" Soubi spoke softly, his metaphor having many different meanings for Ritsuka. The teen stood up abruptly.

"You're talking like a book of Haikus Soubi, I can't understand things like that." His eyes stared guiltily at the ground, he hated lying to this man.

Nonchalantly Soubi pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "It isn't that you can't understand it, the problem is you _won't_ understand."

Ritsuka flinched. The words Soubi was handing to him stung like a flame licking at his body. "I still don't understand what you're trying to say to me." The teen turned towards the okiya in an attempt to leave. Soubi's words stopped him before he could. "You have something to tell me. I think, it's something that you've kept bottled up inside of you for a while now."

A strange fear gripped the younger boy. His whole body tensed as one giant muscle. "Be quiet."

"It's something that hurts you to keep contained."

Ritsuka's hands flew up to his chest, clawing it to contain the heart which was betraying him. "I said be quiet."

"You're scared, Ritsuka. I can see you trembling even in the darkness of night."

It was true, the geisha was trembling terribly. "Shut up, Soubi!"

"You don't have to be so scared, stop holding back your heart and let it go."

Ritsuka's arms flew across his chest, holding on to his shoulders. "Shut up!" Collapsing to his knees, he fell before Soubi. "I said shut up, please. I can't, I cant..." his words barely managed to scrape out as his voice was delicate and breaking.

"You can't what, Ritsuka? Tell me." Soubi's voice stayed calm and collected through the whole thing.

"I can't let you know, I won't allow myself to..." he stopped. A sob wretched in his throat that didn't let any words pass. Tears welled in his large eyes.

This time his voice was quiet, and had a more comforting undertone. "You won't allow yourself to what? Please don't be afraid of me," he cooed.

Ritsuka let out a soft sob, falling forward and landing on Soubi's chest with his arms wrapped tightly around the older ones neck. Allowing his tears to flow freely, they soaked through the fabric of the new westerner styled shirt Soubi was wearing. Not taking a single moment to hesitate Soubi's long arms wrapped around Ritsuka's torso pulling him close, a hand intertwined with the hairs on the back of the teens head. "Take your time Ritsuka, it is okay. However much time you need I will wait. I'll always be listening to your words like each one is a jewel, because they are."

Saying that only made Ritsuka hold on to him tighter. His heart beat wildly threatening to jump out of his chest. "I can't allow myself to love you Soubi," he admitted through his soft sobs. The older man's eyes widened, and drifted down to the top of Ritsuka's head. Gently his lips rested on the top of the boy's head, his nose taking in the rosewood scent of Ritsuka's hair. "Keep going." He whispered huskily into the silky strands.

"My mind refuses my heart to think so but Soubi, I love you." His voice still unsure of itself through weeping. "I love you, I love you, I love you so much it hurts." Ritsuka cried. His face was a shade of blood red, so much so that it stung his skin. Soubi's voice barely reached him through the frenzied beating inside of his chest. With a few short yet very convincing words Soubi had persuaded Ritsuka to spill forth the words he held sacred in the pit of his heart for so long now. "Please don't sell me, please don't get rid of me." he begged. "I can put aside my feelings for you I can become the greatest geisha Gion has ever known. I will earn all the money in the world there is to earn if you please please don't get rid of me. Don't punish me for this."

"Get rid of you..." Soubi mused. Ritsuka's mind froze over completely. He knew it. He knew this was going to happen. Opening his mouth and blabbering onto his chest had only turned the man away from him. _Never again_, Ritsuka thought, _will I trust my heart_. His mind raced as Soubi's hands slid into the space between them, pushing the smaller one away. Ritsuka's eyes gazed to the side to somewhere very far away.

"I could never imagine getting rid of you Ritsuka, or even punishing you. I couldn't." A long delicate finger reached out to hold up Ritsuka's face by his chin. "Did you know, your eyes are the color of Chinese Bellflowers?" Ritsuka blushed, the man was staring straight into his eyes. The teen also noticed that Soubi's eyes glittered a brilliant golden color. A small silence spaced out between them. Ritsuka's pleading eyes stared up at the man. "Please speak Soubi just speak, let me hear your voice again." he begged.

"I'm never letting you go Ritsuka, and I'm sorry that you thought I would. Always listen to your heart first, it is the most true part of you. To tell the truth, I don't care much if you're the greatest Geisha in the entire _world_. You will always be the greatest person in my eyes Ritsuka."

His heart froze, large eyes widening even more. His words came out in clumsy stutters, "what are you, what are you trying to say?" Even more so now than ever the boy was trembling in Soubi's arms.

"I'm trying to say what I've told you all along Ritsuka, I love you."

Ritsuka's eyes seemed wary, and his face showed it as well. Understandably the teen was apprehensive. "But you've said that before you know, how can I be sure?" Ritsuka asked, gulping audibly afterwards.

Wordlessly, without warning or explanation Soubi's face grew closer to the teens. One hand held his chin up, the other stroked lovingly at the side of Ritsuka's face. Soubi's warm breaths were hot against Ritsuka's pink lips, causing his heart to skip a beat. Was this real? Was this actually happening? Soubi's stroking hand paused only to remove his glasses and lay them gently in the grass and them resumed it's place on his face. Now Soubi's eyes were clear and more intense than before. His stare was hard and loving, pinning the teen under his gaze. Ritsuka was being seduced by the moment, and as Soubi's face came in even closer his eyes lulled shut.

Full of purpose, Soubi's lips pressed against Ritsuka's in a gentle yet breathtaking kiss. This is truly how kisses were supposed to be, Ritsuka thought. Loving, not fearful or awkward with drunkenness. Shakily Ritsuka's hands reached up clutching at the collar of Soubi's shirt, pulling him closer. Ritsuka's legs were straddled over the older mans lap, allowing their bodies to press together even more. "It's not enough Soubi" Ritsuka mumbled through the kiss. Soubi parted their lips by a fraction of a centimeter, "how can I make it enough? Please tell me, I will do anything for you." Their lips brushed together as they spoke. "I want to be by your side forever Soubi, I love you so much please stay with me for as long as you can." Ritsuka pleaded.

"I will stay with you forever Ritsuka, I will never leave your side. We've gone too far to go back."

Ritsuka smiled gleefully, as their lips pressed together in a needing wanting and loving kiss that needed no explanation.

* * *

Disclaimer: Loveless is property of Yun Kouga.

OK SO FIRST THING: I apologize for my chapter being a day late. Someone recently passed away and I was at their viewing yesterday, the chapter completely skipped my mind.

A/N: TOTAL CHEESEBALL FLUFFY PUFFS 8D. I put all of this at the end so you guys could jump straight in to the chapter. I hope you like Ritsuka's confession! My heart was beating so fast when I wrote it! And thanks to my friends Katie C. and Rachel (InsomniaOnHigh) for giving me good ideas for this chapter. Please let me know what you guys thought about my fanfiction! AND

I _might_ make a sequel. It depends on if you guys feel this story needs one, and if so it will most likely be centered around Seimei. So give me your feedback!


	18. Update 2

Hey! So this is another update.

I've actually buckled down and started _writing_ writing instead of just a few words here and there. I have no clue when this will be released or anything really. But if you guys want me to I can post a preview once I'm halfway through writing the sequel. Sound good? Let me know :D

Katie (that's my actual name!)


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